Lettice and The Curse of the Black Pearl
by delinquentwrecks
Summary: Following the storyline of CoTBP but with my added OC. What happens when a young girl was rescued along with William Turner? Lettice lives in Port Royal, parentless and aching for freedom, until a notorious pirate Captain enters. J/OC W/E
1. Chapter 1

'Help!' she croaked quietly, the water that encased her stealing her voice. She gripped the boy who could be no older than she as they floated further and further away from the flaming wreckage on the precariously unstable wooden board. Hope was fleeing from her fast and all that filled her was hatred - hatred for whoever had claimed the lives of the crew she had come to adore, for whoever had planted her and the unconscious boy, William, on this unforgiving board without a hope, for whoever had made her truly hate the sea she usually loved more than anything.

She didn't see much of whoever had done this for she was told as soon as the first cannon fired to stay with the young boy and they were to protect each other as their own. Curious about what was happening to what had been their home for the past days, they had been trying to catch a glimpse of the opposing ship however as they leaned against the railing, the ship jerked under canon fire causing the boy to fall into the water. Before thinking, she had thrown herself in after him, and noticing he was unconscious, pulled him onto the small board of wood which had come from her now sinking ship along with everyone that had been on it – everyone she loved.

Her ears pricked as she thought she heard a small girl shout 'Look! Children! There are children in the water!' followed soon after by deep shouts of 'Men overboard!'

Her eyes slid shut as the effort of keeping them open was too great but they soon opened, a panic set deep into her dark brown eyes, as she felt the young boy being pulled away from her hands. She was then pulled up onto the dark deck, her salvation, before a blanket was quickly wrapped tightly around her.

A young man who must've been around twenty, with concerned hazel eyes crouched next to her. 'Are you alright, Miss?' he asked with a clipped, formal voice.

Trying to swallow without causing her aching, raw throat any more damage, the young girl replied, 'Y-yes I am fine. T-the boy though, he's been unconscious for a while.'

'He's being seen to,' he replied before a shout of 'Lieutenant Norrington!' came from behind them.

He stood up to rush to the caller, but not before saying, 'Your name, Miss?'

'Lettice, Lettice Evans,' she coughed, her body shaking under the violent cold.

As the men cleared the deck to the railings to look at the flaming wreckage Lettice was doing her best to avoid the sight of, she could see the boy, William, lying unconscious still, on the floor. Pulling the blanket with her, she scrambled across the deck to him and, pulling his hand into her own, small ones, held onto him for dear life.

A small girl knelt beside her and stroked the hair back from his peaceful face. Suddenly, his hand jerked out of Lettice's to grip her arm as he inhaled rawly, his eyes lit with panic and confusion.

The girl gasped before regaining composure and softly replying 'It's okay, my name's Elizabeth Swann.'

'W-Will Turner,' he shook out. His eyes glanced up at Lettice and realisation poured into them. 'Y-Y-You saved me?'

'Yes, we were told to protect each other. I'm here Will,' she said softly, glad her companion had awoken, 'you need to rest, I'm here to take care of you.'

'I'm watching over you, Will,' Elizabeth said beside her, and Will closed his eyes to enter unconsciousness.

'Miss Evans, you are hurt. Please, follow Governor Swann, you need medical attention,' James Norrington said from behind them.

Lettice looked down at herself and noticed the blood stains on her hands however shook her head in resistance and grasped William's hand. 'I am fine, Sir, I must stay with the boy.'

Norrington raised his eyebrows in surprise but quickly regained his composure to say, 'I must insist, Miss Evans. The boy will be safe here.'

Lettice stood up warily, concern filling her eyes as she wondered whether the unconscious boy would be okay in Elizabeth's hands. She heard the girl, still knelt beside him, gasp and murmur something, however before she had time to see what had happened she was being pulled into a cabin in which a man, who she presumed to be a doctor, sat.

She hissed in pain as the doctor pressed a cloth soaked in something strong smelling on to the gash on her head but she did not resist, knowing the sooner she complied, the sooner she would be by the boy she had sworn to protect's side.

Norrington soon reappeared and took her down below deck to a small room in which William laid, Elizabeth hovering over him.

'Miss Swann, your father requests to see you. Let them rest now,' Norrington said to the girl, still stroking William's hair.

Lettice watched as she left quickly, noticing something gold shining in her hand. She had seen the same thing around William's neck, and anger filled her for a second that the girl had the audacity to take his possessions, however, remembering the skull and cross bones that the trinket featured, she feared it best that it was not on William's person when they were surrounded by these military men.

She walked to where he lay, his breathing laboured, and curled next to him, her hand stroking the strands of wet hair stuck to his face. 'I'm here to look after you, Will,' she whispered, 'we're going to be okay.'

**This chapter is pretty bad, but in all honesty I am itching to write the next one and to get this one out of the way! New Tides is being postponed until I've finished having my kicks with this once, but bare with me, I will finish it eventually. :-) (Reviews are always nice xx)**


	2. Chapter 2

Lettice Evans walked quickly down the cobbled streets that led to the smithy, the hem of her dark blue, plain dress brushing the dusty floor as she went. She pushed open the heavy wooden door that led to the straw-strewn blacksmith's to find William Turner, her brother in all but blood, carefully placing the sword she has seen him slave over for the longest time into a sleek, black box.

'That sword better be good for all the time you've spent on it,' she smirked, leaning back against the wooden door.

He quickly turned to see her, a broad smile on his handsome face. 'Miss Evans, good morning,' he replied, his arm wrapping around the box.

'For goodness sakes Will, you've been my best friend ever since we first set foot in this godforsaken place. There's no need for you to call me 'Miss Evans' every morning' she laughed, the melodic sound causing Will to laugh with her.

'Fine, fine _Letty_,' he replied, a playful smirk now dancing across his face.

Lettice wrinkled her face in disgust before replying, 'You know I hate that, Will. It's Lettice, Etta or nothing.'

He laughed before stepping up to the door, gently brushing her out the way with his box and opening it to step out into the street.

Lettice followed him out, squinting at the now bright sun. 'I suppose this is all for Norrington's promotion, isn't it?' she said, shielding the sun with one hand and nodding towards the women in their carriages covered from head to toe in expensive material, material Lettice guessed would weigh more than she did.

The very thought of having to wear a dress like that repulsed her, having to wear the plain one that laced up the front that she did was bad enough, she'd much rather be wearing the breeches and lose cotton shirt stored under her bed but heaven knows how Mrs Hobbs would react to her walking around in that.

Mrs Hobbs had just lost her husband when Will and Lettice had first arrived in Port Royal after being rescued from the damned ship they had been on. Hobbs suffered with arthritis, her hands more twisted and knotted than an old oak tree's branches and had therefore offered to take Lettice in to help her, much to Lettice's displeasure. The loss of her beloved had turned her into a shrewd, aged woman who had no patience for Lettice's lack of baking skills and 'embarrassing lack of propriety' as she put it.

Lettice had begged to be taken with Will, to become a blacksmith's apprentice but Governor Swann had told her 'wielding swords is no place for a young lady.' Hobbs had seemed to agree on that point, however they did not know the majority of the time Lettice spent with Will, they learned to fight with the beautifully well-balanced and sharp swords Will spent his entire time making. Will had always told Lettice it was so he could seek revenge on the pirates that sunk them into the sea and she had no doubt that was the case.

'I suppose it is,' he replied, following her gaze to the women fanning themselves in the sun, 'which reminds me, I must deliver this to Governor Swann for the ceremony,' he gestured to the box in his hand.

Lettice nodded at him and watched him begin to jog down the cobbled street before she smiled to herself and shook her head. One day, she was sure the people of Port Royal would pull their heads out of the sand and realise that the man saturated in alcohol still sitting in the smithy was not capable of making the fine swords he gets the credit for and that it is her dear Will who holds the talent.

Taking one last glance at her closest friend heading to the Governor's house, she decided she wanted to be near her other dearest friend - the sea. She set off for the docks quickly, aching for the peace and quiet yet thrilling adventure it brought. It was her favourite place to be. Ever since she was young, she had loved the sea, and the hands of time had healed the wounds it had created leaving her with nothing but desire to be on it, to feel the sea air brushing past her hair, to look up and see full sails strained with the wind.

She marched along the wooden jetty where people came to tie up their boats and walked down the sloping wooden platform to where the _Interceptor _was docked. As soon as she set foot onto the dock she was faced with the familiar faces of the two marines who often patrolled the docks.

'I'm sorry, Miss. Not today. This dock is off limits to civilians,' the Murtogg said.

'I just want to sit down for a bit. I promise I won't cause any trouble, Sir,' she replied, her dark eyes big as she batted her eyelashes.

Murtogg hesitated before his companion, Mullroy, spoke for him. 'Just stay out of sight, Miss.'

Lettice threw them both a grin of thanks before sitting on the edge of the dock, pulling off her boots and stockings and dipping her toes in the cooling water. She breathed deeply, inhaling as much sea air as possible to calm her. She heard nothing but the distant drumming from what she assumed was the ceremony for Norrington, the soft sound of the ocean and birds … and footsteps.

The heavy footfall she could hear was obviously not going in a straight line, like they had were more accustomed to walking on rolling waves than on land. She sighed, something told her that her peace was about to be interrupted.

'This dock is off limits to civilians!' Murtogg said, a hint of agitation in his voice.

'I'm terribly sorry, I didn't know. If I see one, I shall inform you immediately,' the man she heard walking replied.

Lettice snorted louder than she meant to and soon heard the rough yet suave voice reply, 'found one.'

She turned around to look at him, pushing the dark brown waves of her out of her face and took in his appearance.

His clothes were layered heavily, worn breaches and boots, a white shirt, a blue vest, a worn coat and lots of sashes. It didn't go unnoticed to her that there were all sorts of weapons on his person.

Her eyes travelled up to his face which she had to admit was surprisingly handsome. His skin was a golden tan colour and he had prominent, high cheekbones. His eyes were extremely dark, almost black and looked as though they'd seen more than one man was entitled to. They were lined with kohl she had seen sailors use to protect themselves from the harsh rays from the sun.

His hair was in dreads with small trinkets hanging in it, and if she was not mistaken, a bone wrapped into it, and a red bandana was tied around his head with a tri-corned hat placed on top. Everything about him screamed adventure.

'Apparently there's some sort of high-toned and fancy to-do up at the fort, eh? How could it be that two upstanding gentlemen such as yourselves did not merit an invitation?' he asked, obviously trying to distract them from the fact he was not leaving.

'Someone has to make sure this dock stays off limits to civilians,' Murtogg replied, his voice sounding somewhat defensive.

Lettice smiled and pulled her feet out of the water, tucked her stockings into the pocket of her dress and slipped on worn leather boots. She walked over to join the strange man and his audience just as the interesting character said '_the Black Pearl_.'

'The Black Pearl?' Lettice replied quickly.

The man raised his eyebrows at her before saying, 'you've heard of it?'

'I've read about it,' she mumbled looking down at the ground, not wanting to go into detail about where she'd heard of it.

He raised one eyebrow at her before taking the time to take in her appearance, everything from her slightly tan skin with her freckled dotted nose to the dark waves of hair that reached her mid back. Certainly a pretty thing, but what was she doing reading about pirate ships? More importantly, _his_ ship.

She raised her head to look at the two marines, now squabbling over the Black Pearl and whether it was real or not and she had no doubt it was very real. Real enough to sink her home and everyone she knew on it.

She looked across to see the strange man had left the discussion and was walking stealthily towards the Interceptor. She didn't blame him, it was a beautiful ship. Interested in what he was doing, she followed him onto the deck when she heard running feet and a call of 'Oi! You two! Get away from there! You don't have permission to be aboard there, mate!'

The two marines clumsily jumped aboard the ship, threatening guns pointed in their direction. Lettice quickly moved behind them so as not to be at gun point although thankfully, they did not seem to see her as a threat or they had forgotten her existence altogether.

'I'm sorry, it's just it's such a pretty boat – ship,' he replied, his hand holding protectively to one of the spokes like a small child with a new toy.

'What's you name?' Murtogg asked quickly, asking the question Lettice had in her mind – who _was _this man.

'Smith! Or Smithy, if you like,' he replied, noticing Lettice looking at him through narrowed eyes. She was almost certain he was lying, however he seemed to be exceedingly good at it.

'What's your purpose in Port Royal, _Mr Smith_?' Mullroy asked before his companion quickly added, 'Yeah, and no lies!'

'Alright then, I confess,' 'Smith' replied, moving away from the wheel and towards where the other three stood, 'It is my intention to commandeer one of these ships, pick up a crew in Tortuga, rape, pillage, plunder and otherwise pilfer my weasely black guts out.' His eyes grew wide as he tipped his head back for effect, amusement hidden on his face.

'I said no lies!' Murtogg said, aggravation evident in his voice.

'I think he's telling the truth,' Lettice replied, a smirk on her face. Although the situation amused her, she didn't doubt he was telling the truth. Everything about his interesting clothes to the weapons strapped around him to the fact he looked more comfortable on the ship than on land led to one word - pirate.

Mullroy nodded in agreement until Murtogg turned around, clearly annoyed with her contradicting him. 'If he were telling the truth he wouldn't have told us,' he said as though he were talking to a small child.

'Unless he knew you wouldn't believe the truth even if he told you,' the man replied, an air of wisdom to his voice, wiping the annoyed looks off both of their faces. He looked to see Lettice laughing and threw her a dazzling smile that showed his gold teeth before pressing the palms of his hands together as though praying and bowing slightly in thanks/.

The man had a way with words, she had to give him that. She'd barely had time to think before she found the four of them sat on the ship, entranced by the mysterious man's story about how he had found himself stranded on an island with nothing but a name – although she wasn't sure _what _name, and the belongings on him.

His dark eyes were almost permanently locked to her own and she hung on to every word he said, falling further and further into his story.

He looked around at the three of them as he said, 'and then they made me their chief,' using subtle hand gestures to reiterate what he was saying.

Lettice opened her mouth to ask the many questions circling her mind when a large splash caused the four of them to look round.

**Because so many of you added this to story alert, I decided to get this chapter up as soon as I possibly could, thank you so much! (Reviews make me type faster) **


	3. Chapter 3

They rushed to the edge of the ship to see the white froth of water indicating someone had fallen in.

'_Elizabeth!' _a shout from the fort echoed.

Elizabeth. Lettice and Elizabeth were not exactly on friendly terms. Elizabeth had always been jealous of the bond Lettice and Will shared; an unspoken vow to be there for each other that neither would break, a bond Elizabeth could not replicate.

Lettice also knew that deep down, part of the reason they would never be friends was because Elizabeth didn't seem to care for her dear William as much as he so obviously did for her. If she hurt Will, Lettice knew she wouldn't hesitate on trying to inflict as much pain as possible to the retched woman.

'Will you be saving her then?' the man asked.

'I can't swim!' Mullroy replied, and just a look from Murtogg showed it was the same for him.

'Pride of the King's Navy, you are!' he told them sarcastically, before removing his hat, coat and many of his weapons and shoving them into the navy men's arms. 'Do not lose these!' he warned before performing a perfect dive into the water. Lettice didn't like to admit she was impressed, but there was no denying this man was like no one she had met before.

Suddenly, the atmosphere seemed to pulse and the wind instantly changed direction, the sun disappearing to dark clouds – a strange happening in Port Royal.

Ignoring it, the three of them rushed to the edge of the dock when a head of dark hair appeared in the water, a waterlogged Elizabeth along with it. The two marines pushed past Lettice to help drag her on to the wooden dock, panic setting into their eyes.

Lettice knelt beside her, reminding her of the time they had first met, when they had both looked over an unconscious Will.

'Not breathing!' a panicked voice said next to her and Lettice realised that she too was not breathing from fear that the woman before her wouldn't wake up. She knew it was cruel to say, but she would not particularly miss the woman, but she knew she wouldn't be able to bear the pain it would bring Will.

'Move!' 'Smith' barked with a sense of urgency at the marines panicking around her before slicing threw the lacing of her corset with a knife that seemed to appear from nowhere and pulling it apart.

Lettice sat back on her heels as Elizabeth's eyes flew open in panic and she spluttered water onto the dock.

'Never would've thought of that,' one of the men said.

'Clearly, you've never been to Singapore.'

Frowning, Lettice watched as he leant forward and picked up something that was hanging around Elizabeth's neck – the medallion, _Will's _medallion! Lettice gasped louder than she'd hoped because the man grasping it turned to look at her, his eyebrows raised in question. 'Now where did you get that?' he asked turning back to Elizabeth, his voice questioned with shock.

Before Lettice knew what was happening, the now _Commodore _Norrington was holding a sword to 'Smith's' neck.

'On your feet,' he commanded coldly, his icy eyes hard.

Smith slowly stood and Lettice soon followed when the Governor reached down to pull Elizabeth from them, wrapping his coat around her in realisation she was not wearing much at all. He looked to Murtogg accusingly, and when he realised what he was holding in his hands, the marine threw down Elizabeth's corset and pointed the blame onto 'Smith'.

'Shoot him!' the Governor said as he held onto his daughter.

'Father!' Elizabeth protested, flashing him a look of aggravation.

Lettice stepped forward, unable to let this interesting man be wrongly prosecuted. 'Commodore, do you really intend to kill your _precious _daughter's rescuer?' she asked, her eyes glaring into Norrington's own cold ones, her voice dripping with sarcasm at the word 'precious'.

Norrington looked over to Elizabeth before sighing and sliding his sword away. 'Smith' pressed his palms together and bowed his head in thanks to Lettice, his mind running with thoughts about her. What kind of woman in Port Royal knew about pirate shipd and was prepared to defend someone at gunpoint when she had only known the said scallywag for not long at all? One he'd like to know, he supposed.

'I believe thanks are in order,' Norrington said calmly, sticking his hand out for the man to shake. Lettice's eyes widened and she shook her head subtly as a gesture towards 'Smith' as a warning, she was sure she knew what was going to be on his arm and it was not something the Commodore should see.

He looked at her hesitantly, but soon stuck his hand forward to be shaken anyway. Norrington gripped it and pulled it harshly towards him before pushing up his dirty shirt to sleeve to reveal the pirate brand Lettice was not surprised to see.

She inhaled through her teeth at the angry white mark and gave the pirate a sympathetic look as she subconsciously ran her fingers over the place on her arm it would be if it were her in his position. He caught it out of the corner of his eyes and smirked slightly, a Port Royal occupant feeling empathy for him? That was certainly a strange occurrence.

'Had a brush with the East India Trading Company did we, pirate?' Norrington asked smugly.

'Hang him,' Governor Swann ordered, his voice almost singing with disgust.

'Keep your guns on him, men. Gillette, fetch some irons,' Norrington commanded, pushing the dirty sleeve up further to see a tattoo of a sparrow flying over a sun – setting or rising Lettice did not know.

'Well, well. Jack Sparrow, isn't it?' Norrington asked, throwing down Jack's arm in disgust. Lettice raised her eyebrows in the direction of the pirate, so _that_ was his name.

'_Captain_ Jack Sparrow, if you please, sir.' Jack replied, looking slightly insulted by the lack of Captainin his address.

'Well, I don't see your ship… 'Captain',' he replied degradingly, the belittling voice causing Lettice to scowl at him. She was not enjoying the demeaning nature of the man that had saved her life when she was young.

'I'm in the market, as it were,' Jack replied, throwing the Commodore a viciously false smile.

Lettice couldn't help but let out a slight laugh, Jack Sparrow's way with words striked her as something one of a kind, even as he faced the noose.

'He said he'd come to commandeer one,' Murtogg chipped in, shrinking back slightly as Lettice glared at him in response to his treacherous words. She wasn't sure why, but she was certain she wanted _Captain _Jack Sparrow to live. Something told her the world would be a smaller place without him.

'I told you he was telling the truth. These are his, Sir,' the other Redcoat added, handing over Jack's belongings.

Norrington picked up the pistol and inspected it quickly. 'No additional shot or powder,' he said, throwing the pistol back into the pile before grabbing the compass, 'a compass that doesn't point north.' He smiled at him mockingly before unsheathing the sword at surveying it quickly. 'And I half inspected it to be made out of wood,' he mocked, the demeaning tone evident in his voice again.

'You are without doubt the worst pirate I've ever heard of!' he added.

'But you have heard of me,' Jack smiled, swaying slightly on his feet.

Lettice laughed softly, causing the pirate to turn and look at her with growing interest.

Norrington's face fell and he pulled Sparrow roughly by the arm towards Gillette who was waiting with the irons.

Lettice stepped forward however Elizabeth threw off the coat put around her, pushed past Lettice and stood between the Commodore and the pirate.

'Commodore, I really must protest!' she shouted, and despite feeling slightly annoyed by the woman's presence, Lettice couldn't help admit she knew the Commodore could be swayed by the beautiful, scantily dressed woman in front of him.

Lettice followed quickly and didn't fail to notice the way Jack's eyes took in his surroundings, his eyebrows furrowed in thought. He was definitely planning something.

Deciding to buy him time, Lettice moved round to stand next to Elizabeth, in between the Commodore and the man whose mind she was sure was formulating _something, _and she was almost certain that that something was something good_._

'Pirate or not, this man saved her life,' she stated, her eyes burning into Norrington's.

Ignoring Lettice all together, he looked at Elizabeth pleadingly. 'One good deed is not enough to redeem a man of a life time of wickedness!'

'Though it seems enough to condemn him,' Lettice stated, hearing a quiet laugh behind her. She bit back a smile that had begun to form on her face due to the recognition and approval of the pirate behind her.

'Indeed,' Norrington growled, a cold glare being thrown in Lettice's direction.

Gillette finished attaching the cold, metal shackles to Jack's wrists before moving away from him.

'Finally!' Lettice heard the pirate mutter before the cold chains were flung around her neck, pulling her tightly against him.

She gasped from the surprise of the cold metal of her skin and the close proximity of the undeniably handsome man's body to hers.

'Sorry, love,' he muttered quietly to her, 'nothing personal.'

She exhaled slowly, trying to regain her calm before muttering back, 'I'm glad I could be of use to you _Mr. Smith_. Although I fear you didn't choose a very good shield, I'm pretty sure shooting me won't be a problem in the Governor's eyes.'

She could fill him grin against her ear as he whispered, 'well I hope they don't, you're definitely my favourite.'

Lettice suppressed the shudder that passed through her as she became very aware of how close they were, a strangely intense feeling growing in the pit of her stomach.

'Don't shoot,' the Commodore commanded, his eyes full of hatred for the man threatening the small girl he remembered rescuing so many years ago.

'I knew you'd warm up to me,' he sneered. 'Commodore Norrington, my effects, please,' he announced before adding, 'and my hat.' He would not be leaving without his hat.

Norrington hesitated before the pirate pulled the chains tighter around Lettice's neck and urged, 'Commodore!'

Norrington picked up the pile of belongings held by the marine and on seeing this, Sparrow focused his attention back on Lettice.

'Now love, if you'd be so kind. Come, come, dear, we don't have all day.'

Norrington handed her the belongings and locked his apologetic eyes with hers before she was whirled round the face Sparrow, a gun now pressed to her temple.

Jack took the time to examine her face, it was just as pretty – if not more so, close up. Oh he did love this part. 'If you'd be _very _kind,' he said, the light tone of his voice gone but a small grin on his face.

Lettice picked up the hat off of the pile and placed it upon his head, using the time to grumble, 'I was trying to help you and you hold me at gun point, typical.'

'Pirate.' he grinned back, although she felt the pressure of the gun at left temple ease slightly.

She then reached around him to strap on the rest of his effects, sure that everyone could feel the heat radiating from her face as she blushed furiously from the embrace she was forced into. Unaware to Lettice, Jack grinned smugly at his audience, causing Norrington to look away in detestation.

Lettice's finally did up the strap, her embarrassment causing her to pull it up a little too tightly.

'Easy on the goods, darling' he inhaled sharply.

'Your despicable,' Elizabeth venomously spoke up from next to the Governor, the coat wrapped around her shoulders once again.

Jack took his eyes off of Lettice to glance over at her before reasoning, 'sticks and stones, love. I saved your life, she saved mine. We're square.'

Lettice was soon whirled round to face everyone again, the gun not pressed near her anymore but waving in the air as a threat to the others.

'Gentlemen,' he shouted, 'ladies,' he said, his lips close to Lettice's ear once more, 'you will always remember this as the day that you almost caught Captain Jack Sparrow!'

With that Lettice was pushed forward into the crowd of people in which only Norrington helped catch her, the rest too busy fawning over Elizabeth. Lettice whirled round quickly, her eyes wide as she watched Sparrow fly into the air.

She let out a loud laugh of amazement as he swung round on a rope above their heads. She had been right when she guessed he had been planning something good!

'Now will you shoot him?' the Governor shouted.

'Open fire!' Norrington ordered and soon bullets were flying through the air.

Norrington commanded them to follow him, Lettice following quickly not wanting to miss a moment. Sparrow landed perfectly on a wooden beam before wrapping his handcuffs around a piece of rope and gliding quickly to the ground, almost as if he'd done it before. Maybe he had, it wouldn't surprise Lettice.

He hit the ground and began running, the bullets still flying towards him. Lettice laughed as the adrenaline ran through her, watching the pirate flail his arms as he ran on in a rather odd fashion.

She found herself willing him on, a grin on her face as she ignored the disapproving looks the Governor gave her as he fussed over his daughter.

Lettice smirked, a man who could manage to get past goodness knows how many military men without getting hit once and not firing a single shot himself was definitely a man she would like to meet again – pirate or not.

**Thank you all for favouriting this or putting it on story alert or reviewing, it really does mean a lot! ;_; **

**Just for reference, I'm going to try and update this once a day but as I get further into the week I may fall behind. :-)**


	4. Chapter 4

Lettice stroked the mule's mud-clotted fur as she sat with her knees under her chin watching Will slave over a heated sword. She loved to watch him work; it was almost as if he went into his own far off world as soon as he began to shape the heated metal into the perfect weapon. A weapon fit for a king, in her eyes.

Her thoughts began to drift and she caught herself thinking of the strange pirate, _Captain Jack Sparrow_, again. After her encounter with him on the docks, she had scarce had a thought which didn't lead back to him, he simply fascinated her.

Once he had escaped, she had grown tired of the disappointed looks she had been thrown by the Governor and had walked further down the docks so she could sit in peace with the sea. It wasn't until she had gone to find Will in the smithy later on that she found out the pirate had been caught and would be seeing the gallows – if he didn't escape again, of course. She would be lying if she said she didn't feel her heart sink in disappointment. She wanted to know more about the strange man.

She had made Will act out the fight he had mentioned having with Jack Sparrow, laughing with astonishment as he told her about how they had ended up in the rafters. He had placed her in the position of Jack as he showed her what had happened, Lettice's eyes alight with adrenaline and joy as their swords swung against each other.

She smiled as she thought of it, her hands still stroking through the mule's fur, there was nothing that made her quite as happy as having a sword in her hand. It made her feel secure, empowered – free. Will had taught Lettice how to handle a sword for as long as she could remember being in Port Royal for. She was a natural with a sword, Will had always said she seemed to fuse with the sword as soon as it touched her; it became an extension of her lightly tanned arms, obeying her every command.

She caught sight of the dark night's sky out of the window, it was getting late now and high time she'd left but she couldn't bring herself to move from the mule's side from where she watched Will commit to his work. Mrs Hobbs wouldn't be worried, Lettice was certain the old shrew preferred it when Lettice wasn't around anyway, probably hoped someone would kidnap her and take her away for good.

She watched him slave away at the sword, a new wave of exhaustion washing over her with every clang of metal on metal. Suddenly, she shuddered as a strange sensation filled the air. She raised her head off of her knees and looked at Will as if to confirm the ghostly feeling that crawled over her. He stopped his work and looked over at Lettice, raising one eyebrow at her before approaching the window and pushing it open.

He could see nothing outside but a small animal run down the street but he didn't like the feeling in the air - like something was coming. He turned back to Lettice and shrugged his shoulders. 'Nothing's there.'

'Then why are you picking up a sword?' she questioned standing up, something was going on and she did not like to be left in the dark.

That's when they heard it. The canon fire ripped through the air loudly, followed by the screams of the residents of Port Royal.

Will ran quickly towards the door, arming himself as he went before turning round to face Lettice. 'Stay here! Barricade yourself in here and the first chance you get, run to safety!' he shouted before running out the door.

As soon as he left she ran quickly to where he kept her favourite sword. She grabbed it off of its home and ran her fingers over it lovingly. Will had made it for her as a birthday present a couple of years ago and she was sure she'd never seen one quite as beautiful. It was perfectly balanced in her hands and when she held it she felt as though she could face an entire army. 'No chance, William,' she muttered before plunging into the chaos outside.

Her eyes scanned her surroundings. It was madness as far as the eye could see, the usual quiet town full of people running and screaming in every direction. A small man with dark, dirty hair and skin covered in a layer of grime jumped in front of her, a grin spreading from ear to ear showing her his teeth – or rather lack of.

'Now who do we have here, poppet?' he grinned mischievously before raising the hilt of his sword to crash it onto her head.

She kicked him hard in the chest before bringing the hilt of her own sword onto his head causing him to double over in pain. 'Lettice Evans, Miss Evans to you,' she said with satisfaction when he fell to the ground.

She faced pirate after pirate, blocking the deathly blows of their vicious swords and swiping at them with hers with vicious precision. She was near the docks now, she had been trying to get there as soon as she left the smithy but the pirates were hell-bent on getting in her way. She had to see it. She had to know. She had to know if this was the ship that had sent hers into the sea all those years ago.

She ran further towards the dock to catch a glimpse of the offending ship when another pirate with greasy, blonde hair tied messily at the nape of his neck and crazed electric blue eyes appeared in front of her, a bag of swag in his hands.

She drove her sword into his body, expecting to watch him fall to the floor but instead he only stumbled backwards slightly. He looked down at the sword in his body before looking back up to her, a wild grin on his face.

Lettice quickly let go of the sword embedded into his body, scrambling from him. She was sure she had driven into his heart; he should be but a corpse on the dusty street by now, so why was he taking a step towards her? She scrambled back further, searching for a weapon with her hands.

As he took another step, another cracking noise filled the air coming from the dark ship. Before she could even blink a canon ball fired past her, taking the pirate with it.

And her sword.

She ran further towards the dock in the shadows, feeling vulnerable now she didn't have the familiar weight of a sword in her hands.

Then it came to her. The ships! They were bound to have weapons on, and she was not far from the Interceptor now. She ran faster towards the wooden jetty before storming down the slope and scrambling onto the deck of the fast ship.

She scanned around her quickly, there was no sight of any weapons above deck but from the knowledge of ships she had, she knew that there wasn't likely to be anyway – they'd be stored below decks.

She ran down the pristine, wooden steps to below decks and scanned the dark passage she found herself in. She wobbled slightly as she ran down the passage, the sea was unusually fierce, and rocking the boat with such force she wasn't sure how she was still on her feet. She stopped running and looked around her, she was in a dark corner concealed by shadows now and she could not find a weapon she could use to drive back the pirates taking her town. Before she could think of where to search, another roll of the fierce waves caused the boat to rock viciously.

Something caught her foot as she tried to stay upright through the rocking waves, sending her backwards further into the corner. She heard a loud crack as she hit the wall and the pulsing in the back of her head told her it was the source of the noise. She fell to the floor, trying to make sense of what was happening which was a hard task when all she could feel was a throbbing in her skull and her vision was quickly fading. 

The last thought she had before she landed into unconsciousness was that was definitely the ship. The ship with black sails. The ship crewed by the damned. The ship that sent her and William into the depths. The _Black Pearl. _

**Thank you all so much for your support! It has given me a stupid smile on my face, it honestly means so much that you like the story. This chapter isn't well written but I did my best! Please review, I'll try and upload the next chapter soon (although there seems to be a strange correlation between the amount of reviews I receive and the uploading time ;-))**


	5. Chapter 5

Lettice groaned as she awoke, lifting her hand to the throbbing pain at the back of her head. She hissed at her touch, the pain making her feel dizzy, glad to see that no blood stained her fingertips as she pulled her hand away.

Pushing against the wall, she stood up and took the time to take in her surroundings. She was on a ship, that much she could tell with the dim light. Then she remembered what had happened the night before. The pirates. The Interceptor. The Black Pearl.

She groaned quietly, deciding she would have to get off the ship now before someone found her. Then, the first thing she'd do was go to find William and check he was alright. She didn't doubt he was more than capable taking on the pirates that invaded Port Royal the previous night but she also didn't doubt that he would try to be noble and save every man, woman and child he saw which often clouded his judgement, leading to him doing damage to himself.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt the ship lurch. _No, no, no, no, no_, she thought, _this is not good._ She was fairly certain they were moving now, eliminating her chances of scrambling off the naval ship unnoticed. She'd have to face whoever was on deck. She slightly hoped it was Commodore Norrington, despite their differences Lettice had always thought of him as a friend, ever since the journey on the _Dauntless_, and hoped he would go slightly easy on her – although that seemed unlikely after the pirate incident at the docks_._

She frowned at the scrambling she could hear above her, the people on deck were in a hurry, something important was happening she guessed. She pushed it aside and paced the lower deck, trying to summon the courage to face whoever was on deck and contemplating what she would say when she did.

Deciding she would say that she had been taking a walk on the docks when the pirate ship arrived causing her to go to the _Interceptor _for safety, she placed her foot on the first step.

'_Bring her around, bring her around!'_

She frowned, stopping to listen to what was going on outside. She heard what she was sure was every man leaving the ship quickly. Something out of the ordinary was definitely happening, something she wanted to find out.

'_Search every cabin, every hold, down to the bilges!' _she heard Commodore Norrington's distinctive voice shout. She felt the ship begin to move again and the next thing she heard sounded like wood scraping the ship before a loud splash in the water. Her eyebrows shot up, she had not been on a ship in a very long time but she was sure these were not usual things to be hearing. Intrigued, she walked out on to the bright, sunlit deck.

'Thank you, Commodore, for getting us ready to make way. We'd have had a hard time doing it by ourselves.' Lettice's mouth fell open in shock as she watched Jack Sparrow, the pirate she was told would be well on his way to the hangman's noose by now, waving his hat in the direction of the Commodore.

She heard a shout of '_Miss Evans? Hold your fire, men!' _and she whipped her head around to see a shocked James Norrington barking orders at his men.

Before she could react, Will was clutching her arms tightly, disbelief in his voice. 'Lettice, what are you doing here?'

'Will? I think I'll be asking the questions here, Turner, what the bloody hell is going on?' she shouted back, disbelief colouring her voice. What was Will doing with a pirate on a naval ship?

He winced slightly at her use of fowl language, but before he could answer, Jack Sparrow interrupted from his place behind the wheel of the ship.

'Ah love, glad you could join us! I never got to thank you for savin' me life before,' he said, flashing her a grin.

She couldn't help but grin back, despite her confusion to what was happening. 'It was nothing, Captain Sparrow,' she replied with a dismissing wave, 'I didn't have much say in the matter,' she laughed.

'You saved him?' Will questioned in hushed tones, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

'Like I said, I'll being asking the questions here,' she replied, before pulling him on the arm to join Jack at the helm. 'I trust between the two of you, you can tell me exactly what situation I've landed myself in?'

Will started his story from when he saw Elizabeth being taken by the pirates and Lettice had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. She wasn't sure why he went through so much trouble for the infuriating woman. He continued to tell her of how the Commodore had offered no solution, leaving him with no choice but to spring Jack from jail and commandeer a ship, and now they were heading to save Elizabeth – Lettice now included, apparently.

In return, she told them of how after Will had left her, she went to fight but upon losing her sword, she was forced to seek one out. This had landed her on the _Interceptor _where she managed to be knocked unconscious and now she was here with the two of them. All the while she tried to ignore Jack's seemingly impressed gaze.

Will frowned at her before interjecting, 'I told you to barricade yourself in the smithy.'

Lettice scoffed. 'Did you really think I was going to wait in there for you, Will?'

Will opened his mouth to answer angrily when Jack Sparrow quickly inputted, 'I think there are some ropes over there that need seen to, whelp.'

Will looked at him as if he forgot he was there, before deciding it was best not to argue with him as he was his best chance of reaching Elizabeth and walked over to the where Jack had indicated, but not before sending Lettice an unreadable look.

Ignoring him, Lettice sighed and looked over the sea. It was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. The water was a deep, endless blue and the waves twinkled as the rolled in the yellow sunlight.

'It hardly seems fair that you saved me life and I don't know your name, does it?' the pirate asked, dragging Lettice out of her thoughts.

'Like I said, I didn't have much choice in the matter of saving your life, Captain Sparrow. And no, I suppose it's not,' she said, a small smile forming on her lips.

'Please, love, call me Jack,' he replied, she could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

'Jack,' she repeated, as though tasting the name on her tongue. 'My name's Lettice.'

'Lettuce?' he repeated, his eyebrows furrowed at the thought of being named after a vegetable.

'Just call me Etta,' she mumbled. Bloody pirates.

Soon, it was mid-afternoon and she was sat down next to Will as she watched the sea. She was transfixed as it glittered in the sun, it beckoned her.

'When I was a lad living in England, my mother raised me by herself. After she died, I came out here, looking for my father,' Will began whilst sharpening his sword.

Lettice drew her gaze away from the sea to assess his face, he didn't often talk about his past and it made her wonder why he was bringing it up now.

'Is that so?' Jack asked, seemingly disinterested in the subject as he readjusted ropes before walking up to the helm.

'My father, Bill Turner?' Will questioned, following Jack up the stairs. Lettice was quick on his heels, interested by what had seemed to have got Will bothered. 'At the jail it was only after you learned my name that you agreed to help. Since that's what I wanted I didn't press the matter. I'm not a simpleton, Jack. You knew my father.'

Lettice watched Jack cautiously from behind Will as he seemed to think things over, hesitating before standing up to face him.

'I knew 'im. Probably one of the few who knew him as William Turner. Everyone else just called him "Bootstrap" or "Bootstrap Bill".'

'Bootstrap?' Will repeated.

'Good man, good pirate,' Jack added as he jumped down to stand behind the wheel, 'I swear you look just like him.'

'You never mentioned that,' Lettice said quietly in surprise, from all the things she was expecting it was not that.

'It's not true. He was a merchant sailor. A good, respectable man who obeyed the law,' Will denied, a defensive warning in his voice.

Rolling his eyes, Jack grabbed the wheel with one hand and swung back round to face him. 'He was a bloody pirate, a scallywag.'

'My father was _not _a pirate,' Will insisted forcefully, unsheathing his sword and pointing it at Jack. Lettice rolled her eyes and let out a small sigh, personally she thought it to be rather exciting that his father was a pirate.

'Put it away, Son. It's not worth you getting beat again,' Jack said calmly without so much as flinching at the sound of the sword being drawn.

'You didn't beat me. You ignored the rules of engagement. In a fair fight, I'd kill you,' Will snapped.

Jack turned around to face them again, glancing at Lettice as if to calculate something quickly. 'That's not much incentive for me to fight fair, is it?' Jack asked before grabbing Lettice around the waist, pulling her to him and ducking as he turned the wheel sharply, the boom knocking Will off of his feet and leaving him hanging over the ocean.

Jack stood up, his arm still around Lettice's waist, whose eyes were now wide with shock. 'Will!' she exclaimed, she knew that Jack wouldn't let him drown, but she still felt like she had to do something, something she found exceedingly difficult to do with a pirate's arm around her waist. She could feel her cheeks redden at their close proximity, not for the first time since she had met him.

'Don't touch her!' Will shouted, trying to get a better grip on the beam.

Jack just smirked and snaked his arm more tightly around her, pulling her closer than she thought possible to him, his smell intoxicating her. He smelt of rum and salt and the sea. He smelt like freedom. Lettice could feel the same strange sensation as the one at the docks build in her stomach again, her cheeks burning a deeper red.

'Now, as long as you're just hanging there, pay attention,' Jack announced. 'The only rules that really matter are these: what a man can do and what a man can't do. For instance, you can accept that your father was a pirate and a good man, or you can't. Pirate is in your blood, boy, so you'll have to square with that someday. Now me, for example, I can let you drown, but I can't bring this ship into Tortuga all by me onesies, savvy? So…' Jack said, turning the wheel so it'd drop Will back onto the deck.

He smirked down at Lettice before unwinding his arm from around her. Not realising she had been holding her breath, she finally exhaled, unable to tell if she was disappointed or relieved from the space between her and Jack again.

Jack walked to Will, who was now lying on the deck, and pointed his sword to him. 'Can you sail under the command of a pirate,' he began, flipping the sword so the hilt was now offered to Will, 'or can you not?'

Will, looking slightly confused at Jack's gesture, grasped the sword offered in front of him.

'Tortuga?' he questioned.

'Tortuga,' Jack repeated, a glint in his eyes.

**I'm not sure if I like this chapter but I've spent a lot of time fussing over it so this is the best it's going to get! I promise if I get 3 whole reviews on this chapter I'll upload the next chapter tomorrow, haha!**

**x x **


	6. Chapter 6

It wouldn't be long until they were in Tortuga and Lettice was sat near the wheel, her eyes out to sea again, her heart feeling truly happy for the first time since she had set foot in Port Royal.

'When did you meet the whelp, then?' Jack asked, truly interested in how the woman sat next to him who seemed to long for the sea as much as he did became friends with _him_. He gesturing with his head towards where Will was situated, further down the ship checking the knots Lettice was sure she had seen him fiddle with a hundred times. Probably trying to keep his mind off of the person they were in pursuit of.

'8 years ago – when I was 10 years old, almost 11 I believe,' she stated.

Jack turned his head slightly to look at her, his eyebrows raised as if to ask for further explanation.

'We met on the merchant ship, the one Will mentioned earlier. We were attacked by a pirate ship… the _Black Pearl,_' she said cautiously, searching Jack's face for a reaction. She had heard him talk of it at the docks and was certain he knew more than he was letting on, yet his face showed now reaction. 'That's when we were picked up by the Dauntless – the ship Elizabeth was on, and taken to Port Royal. Both Will and I had no family to speak of, so we became each others family,' she continued thoughtfully before adding, 'he is a good man, Jack, the best I have known. I'm not sure I'd have survived without him by my side.'

Jack didn't quite agree with that, the woman sat down beside him seemed a fighter, he couldn't imagine her not surviving – with or without the whelp.

'What happened to your family?' he asked, already expecting the answer of sinking with the ship, but fascination getting the better of him.

Lettice hesitated slightly, before answering. 'My mother passed giving birth to me. My father was a navy man – a Commodore,' she said, watching the surprise on Jack's face cautiously. 'Wasn't a big fan of pirates, or me for that matter. He blamed me for my mother's death, left me alone when I was just a baby to chase pirates,' she said bitterly. 'He took the loss of my mother and the fact he had no son to carry on his name out on me. It's strange,' she continued, her brow furrowed as she thought back, 'he hurt me all he wanted and yet I did not leave - too naïve I suppose. But as soon as he tried to take the things I held dear, I left. I ran with nothing, which wasn't the brightest of ideas, and ended up at the docks – I think the thought of the sea helped me believe I would be finding something better. I told the Captain of the merchant ship I was an orphan and so he took pity on me, granted me passage before we were attacked.'

Jack looked at her, surprise etched on his face. He had been right to guess she was a fighter, he found it hard to imagine any ten year old lass take it upon themselves to leave everything they knew. Jack wanted to know more about her, something he did not experience often. Not many people fascinated Jack, it was a quality he valued above most others.

'What did he try to take from you?' he asked with interest.

'The sea, adventure, my freedom,' she said, her brown eyes coming alight.

'Ah, we're more similar than it would appear, you and I, I and you, _us_' he smirked down at her.

She grinned back up at him, her heartbeat increasing at his words. She sighed, her eyes searching the rolling waves once more, 'You know, it's a funny thing, isn't it? My father told me he was fighting for the right thing, but where pirates were chasing horizons, he was chasing nothing more than titles.'

Jack looked at her in interest, Lettice shifting under his piercing gaze. 'Aye, it's a funny thing when a man stops listening to his heart and starts listening to 'is uniform,' Jack said wisely, then as though he felt he was being to serious, he waved his hands in a wild gesture.

Lettice nodded in agreement, a funny thing indeed.

**I know I said 3 reviews, but I received 2 and so I did a short one as a sort of compromise haha. I'm not sure Jack is extremely in character here, but never mind. **

**x x**


	7. Chapter 7

'More importantly, it is indeed a sad life that has never breathed deep this sweet, proliferous bouquet that is Tortuga. Savvy?' Jack explained, walking merrily along the grimy streets, Lettice and Will following close behind.

Lettice took the time to take in her surroundings, the dirty streets and the dirtier men, the women with far lower cut dresses than Lettice had ever seen gripping on to the swaggering drunken pirates. Gunshots, shouts and laughter filled her ears and the air smelt of rum, dirt and salt. Jack seemed to fit with the chaos of the pirate port, not something that surprised her really.

'What do you think?' Jack asked happily.

Will looked down at the rum soaked pirate lying near his feet. 'It'll linger,' he commented.

Seemingly oblivious to Will's tone, Jack turned to Lettice expectantly. Lettice bit her lip, looking around her again. It was loud and exciting and free and everything her father would have hated and for that reason alone she loved it. 'I think it's brilliant,' she said, the sincerity in her voice obvious. She smiled at Jack as a grin spread across his face, both of them ignoring Will as he raised his eyebrows in shock at Lettice.

'I'll tell ya, mate, if every town in the world were like this one, no man would ever feel unwanted,' Jack announced. He paused suddenly at the sight of a red haired woman marching towards the trio. 'Scarlett!' he exclaimed as he threw open his arms.

Lettice winced as the sound of a sharp slap filled the air and Jack's head swung round quickly to the side. The red haired woman marched away to the people she had come from as a confused look crossed his stricken face. 'Not sure I deserved that.' He turned around again, this time to be faced with a blonde woman with dark make up smeared on below her eyes.

'Giselle!'

'Who was she? And who's this?' she asked angrily, gesturing towards where Lettice stood uncomfortably.

'What?' Jack managed to say before the blonde's small hand met his face, another sharp slap vibrating through the air.

'I may have deserved that one,' he admitted guiltily. Lettice laughed lightly, and as if reminded that he had company, Jack straightened and opened his arms to the two. 'Let's find us a crew, shall we?'

He led them through a busy tavern in which Lettice pressed herself close to Will, afraid to get swept up in the rowdy crowds, and out behind the tavern where it was quieter. There he filled up two buckets of water and handed one to Will before leading them to a filthy pig-sty.

Lettice gagged as the smell reached her nose; never had she smelt something so repulsive as what ever she was breathing in now. She breathed shallowly as to not intake the smell and peered round Jack and Will to see a dirty man with his head nestled into one of the pigs. She recognised him from somewhere, but she couldn't place where.

She turned to Will and raised her eyebrows at him in question who in return shrugged his shoulders. Without warning, Jack suddenly threw his bucket of water onto the sleeping man, who awoke with a violent start, wielding his dagger.

'Curse ya for breathin' ya slack-jawed idiot!' he shouted before pausing to take in the man in front of him.

'Mother's love! Jack!' he exclaimed, a look of realisation falling upon his face, 'you should know better than ta' wake a man when he's sleepin' – s'bad luck.'

When he mentioned bad luck, the realisation of who was laying before her dawned on Lettice – he had been on the crossing to England. He'd told her all about bad luck on the sea, she'd thought superstition was just as silly then as she did now but knew better than to say anything of it. Gibbs, if she remembered correctly.

'Ah, fortunately I know how to counter it,' Jack said, moving towards him, 'the man who did the waking buys the man who was sleeping a drink. The man who was sleeping drinks it while listening to a proposition from the man who did the waking.'

He waited a moment for Gibbs to catch up, whose face lit up with realisation as he replied, 'Aye, that'll about do it.'

Jack extended a hand to him and pulled him out of the mud, stepping back as Will threw his bucket of water over the man.

Lettice bit back a laugh as he angrily exclaimed, 'Blast! I'm already awake!'

'That was for the smell.' Will stated reasonably. Gibbs opened his mouth to argue, and then realising the boy was probably right, shrugged acceptingly.

Jack led the others through to a crowded bar in which he headed straight to find rum. Will leant against a wall, observing the fights around him warily. Lettice leaned next to him and sighed, worry was evident in his features.

'Keep a sharp eye,' Jack instructed them gravely as he walked past, rum now in his hand.

'Lighten up, Will, you'll have permanent lines the amount you're frowning,' Lettice jested lightly.

'I'm sorry I find it hard to enjoy myself when a good woman has been taken by pirates and we're doing nothing,' he said, his voice harsh, 'although you seem to be making a good job of it.'

Lettice frowned and gave a sharp, cruel laugh. 'We're finding a crew, William. There's not much else we can do at the moment. You seem to be forgetting I didn't ask for this. Besides, I don't see the harm in enjoying myself fully for the first time in eight years because we haven't quite caught up with the woman _you _love.'

'I don't love her, Will tried to argue back, but stopped when he received a sharp look from Lettice.

'We all know that's not true,' she said, rolling her eyes. 'You're forgetting I'm on your side, Will,' she said softly, grasping his hand.

He squeezed it back reassuringly. When Lettice had gone back to watching the fights in the tavern, Will quietly asked 'but is Jack?' under his breath. He listened carefully to the conversation behind him, his face frowning in confusion as he heard Jack say, 'let's just say it's a matter of leverage.' It didn't take much to figure out they were talking about him.

Lettice, seemingly oblivious to what Will could hear, watched as a drunken woman twice his size stumbled on Will, his uncomfortable face forcing her to bite back a laugh. She forced her face to be straight as a man in a strange straw hat collected the giggling woman from Will.

She finally laughed as the two left, Will, who still looked uncomfortable, seemed to not find the funnier side to it. She turned around to watch Jack and Gibbs discuss, they both seemed to be rather happy about something.

A strange surge of adrenaline and excitement ran through her as she listened in on their final exchange, they shoved their tankards together before chugging them down.

'Take what you can!'

'Give nothin' back!'

**I'm finding it hard to write Will in character, bare with me – I haven't had much practice. Tell me what you think! x x**


	8. Chapter 8

Lettice, Will and Jack lazily walked down the streets of Tortuga, the latter's swagger more prominent than usual, as they headed for the _Interceptor. _They had parted with Gibbs a little time before, who had promised to find them a crew for the day after, and now Jack talked at Will about all that Tortuga had to offer whilst Lettice trailed slowly behind, happy to just soak up the atmosphere.

Suddenly she felt a tight grip on her wrist and swung round to see a man with a beard as bristly as a poor maid's broom and black hair dripping with grease. He grinned, showing her his blackened teeth and widened his beady eyes at her suggestively. Lettice wrinkled her nose at the stench that surrounded her and instinctively moved back from the man as far as she could but found she was prevented by the iron grip on her wrist.

'Wha's a pretty girl like you doin' in a place like this all alone?' he leered, his drunken speech slurred almost incoherently.

'Why shouldn't I be? Let go of my wrist.' She ordered firmly, her eyes hard.

'Wouldn' want anythin' to 'appen a little thin' like you now, would we?' he grinned, his eyebrows wiggling causing Lettice's stomach to knot in disgust.

'Nothing _is _going to happen to me,' she spat at him, partly to reassure herself, 'so if you would just let go so I can be on my way.'

Ignoring her protests completely, the man got a better grip on her struggling wrist before asking, 'Tell me, poppet, wha' be your name?'

Lettice, wondering what had happened to Will and Jack, tried to yank her wrist away one more time but when it failed, her eyes became icy yet full of fire all at once. 'Let go of me this instant or else you'll wish you never laid hair nor finger on me.'

The man yanked her wrist towards him, causing her to be crushed to his chest, his face alight with intent. 'Now wha' could a tiny thin' like you possibly do to me?' he asked mockingly.

All at once, Lettice turned quickly in his grasp and drove her elbow into his doughy stomach and with her free hand she unsheathed the sword that hung from his hip, feeling more confident with the familiar feel of a sword in her hand.

The man stumbled back releasing her and realizing she was now holding his sword, pulled out the sword that lay on the other side of his hips. The man began to advance towards her, his eyes angry now, and swung his sword at her. She raised her sword to meet his and couldn't help but feel joy bubble inside her when the swords sang as they joined.

He swung again and again, each time his blow was met with Lettice's causing the ring of metal on metal to fill the air, she had always prided herself with being fast with a sword. He swung again, higher this time. Lettice ducked underneath it quickly, gripping the wrist that held his sword and twisting it jerkily. The sword dropped with a loud crash and before he knew what was happening, she brought the hilt of her sword onto his head, knocking him out cold.

'_That's_ what a tiny thing like me could do to you, Sir' she muttered, turning back round to catch up with Will and Jack.

She paused in her tracks suddenly at the sight of Will and Jack stood in front of her, an amusing mix of impressed and shocked looks on their faces.

'Well, Letty, I shall certainly not be getting on the wrong side of you,' Jack announced, a grin now plastered on his face. Lettice couldn't help but enjoy the way the nickname rolled off of his tongue; she didn't much mind him calling her that.

'Somehow, I don't think you will,' she grinned.

Lettice closed her eyes as she leaned against the railing of the _Interceptor,_ relishing the cool, evening air as it blew her dark, wavy hair around her face.

She felt a presence beside her and so opened her dark eyes slowly, a small smile forming at the sight of her brother and best friend with his back against the rail next to her.

'I forgot how good you were with a sword,' Will remarked, grinning at her.

'You should never forget, William, or I shall be forced to remind you,' she said seriously before letting out a held back laugh, glad to see him smiling. She closed her eyes again as the breeze picked up, she hadn't felt this sensation of complete contentment in a long time.

She looked again to Will, whose face looked deep in thought again. 'Thinking about Elizabeth again?' she asked softly.

He looked up at her with a small smile on his face before replying, 'no, about you actually.'

'Me?' She widened her eyes in surprise and turned around so her back was too leaning against the rail, 'what about me?'

'This is too dangerous, Lettice. I don't want you to get hurt, I'm sure Jack knows of a port we can stop off in where you can stay, we can return for you on the way back. It'll be safer than leaving you here,' he said, gesturing to Tortuga.

Lettice waited for a couple of seconds to see if he was joking, but when not an ounce of amusement filled his face, she pushed herself from where she had been on the railing and leaned her face viciously close to Will's.

'William Turner, I will _not _wait in a port for you, I will _not _wait as you have the adventure I've always dreamed of. You know I'm more the capable of handling myself, I will _not _let you take away my freedom,' she snapped viciously before storming towards where Jack was sat near the wheel.

'Lettice, listen to me! I will not see you hurt. We promised to protect each other, and this is the only way I can see you being safe!' Will retorted, hot on her heels.

'I swore to protect you too; I will not wait in a port whilst you could possibly be doing something unbelievably stupid in the name of love.' At his unwavering look of determination, she turned to Jack whom she knew full well had been listening to their argument. 'What say you, Captain Sparrow?'

He looked between the two hesitantly, before throwing open his arms and offering 'I say the lass comes with us.'

Will looked at the two of them for a second before deciding this was a lost battle, stormed off down the ship to fiddle with the ropes.

Lettice heavily sat herself down beside Jack, her whole body aching from the day's events. 'Thank you, Jack,' she said, 'for not letting him take this away from me.'

Jack turned to look at her, assessing her face with interest. 'And what's that?'

'The adventure,' she said, looking out at the sea which now reflected the twinkling Caribbean stars.

'Don't thank me, love. Every man – or woman' he corrected quickly, 'should have their freedom. No Commodore Norrington, no mutinous pirates, no _bloody whelp _can take that a way,' he stated, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, his body heat warming her instantly.

She laughed before uttering under her breath so Jack could only just hear it, causing him to smirk in amusement.

'Bloody whelp.'

**I might delete this chapter, or at least the second half. It doesn't seem very in character or good or to have much reason to it. I don't know, it won't affect the story if I delete it, so tell me what you think – for or against the keeping of this chapter. **


	9. Chapter 9

'Feast your eyes, Captain. All of them, faithful hands before the mast. Every man worth his salt, and crazy to boot,' Gibbs said proudly as Jack inspected the line of sailors.

Jack paused to inspect a muscled, bald man who stood at no more than 4 foot who glared at them.

'So this is your able-bodied crew?' Will asked sarcastically, a frown on his face as he looked over the group. Ignoring his remark, Jack continued down the line of scruffy seamen with Lettice and Will in his wake. He paused with narrowed eyes in front of an ancient-looking man with a brightly coloured parrot sat on his shoulder, the weathered lines in his face causing Lettice to wonder how much of the world this aged man had seen in his lifetime.

'You, sailor!' Jack addressed loudly.

'Cotton, sir.' Gibbs provided.

'Mr. Cotton, do you have the courage and fortitude to follow orders and stay true in the face of danger and almost certain death?' Jack asked, his expressive face leaning close to the weathered man's own. 'Mr Cotton,' he barked, quickly growing impatient. 'Answer man!'

'He's a mute, sir,' Gibbs explained, leaning into Jack's line of vision as he glowered at Cotton. 'Poor devil had his tongue cut out, so he trained the parrot to talk for him. No one's yet figured how.'

Cotton opened his wrinkled mouth to reveal the stump of a tongue causing Jack to lean back and mimic Cotton, rolling his tongue between his teeth as though to check it was still there. He heard a murmur of 'bloody hell' from Lettice and nodded in agreement, turning in preparation to move on but hesitating and turning back to Cotton.

'Mr Cotton's… parrot,' he said quickly, 'same question.'

'Wind in your sails! Wind in your sails!' the brightly coloured bird squaked, causing Lettice to grin, she had seen the birds before but never had she heard one talk like that!

'Mostly, we figured that means "yes",' Gibbs explained.

'Of course it does,' Jack said as though it were blindingly obvious. 'Satisfied?' he asked, turning to look at Will.

'Well you've proved they're mad,' Will snapped as he looked over the crew again, how were the scrapings of the barrel going to help him save Elizabeth?

'Every man must be a little mad, William, otherwise no one would dare cut the rope and be free,' Lettice said quietly, her eyes still watching Cotton's parrot.

'Precisely,' she heard Jack say and she could feel his grin before she even turned to smile back at him.

'And what's the benefit for us?' called a feminine voice from down the line. Jack walked hesitantly towards it, Lettice and Will following in interest. Jack peeked under the hat before grimacing. Slowly, he pulled it off to reveal a beautiful woman with long dark hair and dark skin.

'Anamaria!' he smiled, although his tone sounded off.

The woman's jaw was set, sending off waves of hatred and a dark hand slapped Jack hard across the face.

'I suppose you didn't deserve that one either?' Will said sarcastically, smiling when he saw Lettice trying to attempt to hold back her laughter at his comment.

'No, that one I deserved,' Jack admitted.

Anamaria nodded viciously. 'You stole my boat.'

'Actually-' he began however he was stopped by her hand striking him again. This all seemed vaguely familiar to Lettice, she wondered just how many women Jack had upset.

His eyes widened at the shock of being slapped again and he began to turn around cautiously again. '_Borrowed_, borrowed without permission, but with every intention of bringing it back.'

'But you didn't!'

'You'll get another one!' Jack said, his voice going higher.

Anamaria pointed at him accusingly, looking as though she may slap him again, but controlling herself to saying a firm, 'I will.'

'A better one,' Lettice offered brightly, she felt bad for the poor woman, if she had the pleasure of owning a boat, she would relish in wringing the neck of any man who took it from her – even if it was Jack.

'A better one!' Jack echoed in agreement.

'That one,' Will added, pointing to the _Interceptor._

'What one?' Jack asked. He followed Will's nod and his gaze fell upon the _Interceptor _before he turned around quickly, his braids flying round.

'_That_ one?' Jack asked angrily. He looked at Lettice's face who was doing a slight nod as if to persuade him. He paused, drew in a breath and turned back to Anamaria. 'Aye, that one,' he said, the previous enthusiasm lost from his voice. 'What say you?'

'Aye!' Anamaria shouted, the rest of the crew's chorusing 'aye's following quickly.

'No, no, no, no,' Gibbs said, moving around Jack, 'It's frightful bad luck to bring a woman aboard, sir – let alone two!'

Lettice scowled, she knew it was not meant to be personal but it was displeasing to hear none the less. Jack frowned up at the sky as though something terrible was about to fall from it before saying, 'It'd be far worse not to have 'em.'

Jack walked quickly off as Will and Gibbs looked up to the sky, searching for what Jack had been looking at as Lettice looked around at her new crew.

**Another short one, I apologise! As soon as the holiday's start they'll get longer. **


	10. Chapter 10

Lettice wiped her face of the water uselessly as the mixture of rain and salt water soaked her. The Interceptor crashed through wave after wave, sending Lettice toppling over more than once or twice.

She clinged to the rigging as her, Gibbs and Will gave their best efforts to keep them in place. A salty wave charged into them, sending Lettice flying backwards, salt water filling her nose, eyes and mouth. She felt herself hit the deck as the wave washed back out, the only feeling in her was that she was still holding tightly to the rope, the fear of being washed overboard and being lost to Davy Jones too great to let go.

She stood up with Gibbs and Will and the three ran to adjust the ropes, her heart beating wildly. The adrenaline of the storm filled her entire being, it was as though the lightening had charged her, she couldn't help the wild grin on her face.

'How can we sail to an island that nobody can find, with a compass that doesn't work?' Will bellowed above the shrieking storm.

'Aye, the compass doesn't point north, but we're not trying to find north, are we?' Gibbs replied, the excitement that only comes when a sailor begins a story in his eyes.

Lettice, making sure she had a firm grip on the rope, looked up at Jack with intrigue. His face was determined as his eyes flickered from the compass to the wheel. Lettice's mind was burning with questions, although this did not seem the time.

Gibbs stumbled up the steps towards Jack and, timing herself with the fierce waves, Lettice followed quickly.

'We should drop canvas, Sir!' Gibbs suggested, Lettice quickly grabbing his arm and holding him upright as he stumbled.

'She can hold a bit longer,' Jack replied, his voice rough with salt, but his eyes gleaming with exhilaration. The look on his face made Lettice's blood burn with excitement. Yes, this was definitely the adventure she had been fighting for.

'What's in yer head that's put ye in such a fine mood, Cap'n?' Gibbs asked, Lettice leaning forward in anticipation of the answer.

'We're catching up.' Jack grinned as a bolt of lightning illuminated his face, his eyes wide as though he was seeking some sort of unseen prey.

The storm passed as soon as it had came, taking all of Lettice's energy with it. She had not slept much since they had left Tortuga. She was reminded of how little she had eaten as well when her stomach growled fiercely.

She wondered how Jack did it, she had not seen him eat nor sleep once since they had arrived, and yet he was still standing strong at the helm, one hand resting easily on one of the spokes of the wheel, the other gripping the compass. It was almost as if he got his energy from the sea, as though he was born from it and he would always be at one with it, Lettice thought, he embodied the sea.

She leant on the rail next to Gibbs, her mind a flurry of questions. She had so much to ask, but one was burning through the others.

'Gibbs,' she began quietly, 'the pirates, there's something… wrong with them, isn't there?' she asked, hesitating in her wording.

Gibbs raised an eyebrow at her. 'And what do yer mean by that, lass?'

She sighed. 'In Port Royal, the pirates weren't dying. I know I sound like I'm going insane, but I know they received blows that would kill any man more than once, and yet they did not die.' She awaited the laughter and him telling her that she was mad, but it did not come.

'Aye missy, they be cursed men. It's said they can't die, but they be dead on the inside if ye ask me. Can't quench a thirst no matter how much they drink, can't fill their bellies even if they ate a whole horse, can't feel anythin' but the emptiness in their bones. It's a fate worse than death, to be sure,' he said, looking out at the eerily foggy ocean.

Lettice rubbed her forehead slightly as she mulled this over. If she had not seen what she had seen, she would not have believed one word, she would have put it down to being a mere sailor's tale, but she was sure the men in Port Royal weren't dying no matter how many times her sword penetrated their cold hearts.

'And this curse, how did they get put under it?' she asked, her fascination rising.

This time, Gibbs turned from the railing to face her properly, his eyes alight and a story dripping from his tongue.

'Ah, the treasure of the Isla de Muerta, lass.' He paused, looking to see if she was paying attention, and when he was satisfied she was, he continued. 'They say eight hundred and eighty-two identical pieces of Aztec gold we're delivered to Cortéz himself. Blood money, so they say, to stem the slaughter he unleashed upon them. But Cortéz was not a givin' man, lass, far from it, his greed was unquenchable, and so a terrible curse was put upon the gold. Any man who took one single piece would be under the curse forever more unless every single piece found its way back to the stone chest and every drop of blood was replaced. Now, it was only believed to be a ghost story, a tall tale if ye like, until Barbossa's men went after it. They took every piece before they realized what they had brought upon themselves.'

Lettice's eyes widened, it didn't take long to put two and two together. Will's pirate medallion, it had to be what they were after – Cortéz's gold.

Cotton's parrot sang out, 'Dead man tells no tales!' interrupting Lettice from her frantic thoughts. Will had joined her and Gibbs by the railing now along with almost every other sailor, each one looking out at the eerie waters.

'Puts a chill in the bones, how many honest sailors have been claimed by this passage,' Gibbs said, breaking the ghostly silence.

'Can't have been too honest, coming here,' Lettice said quietly, looking around at the shipwrecks surrounding the _Interceptor. _

Will looked up to see Jack look at his compass once again, though this time Mr. Cotton stood close by, Jack looking slightly uncomfortable.

Gibbs began to walk away from the railing, Will following him quickly. Lettice, not wanting to miss the conversation if it was anything like what Gibbs had just told her, followed behind.

'How is it that Jack came by that compass?' Will asked.

'Not a lot's known about Jack Sparrow 'fore he showed up in Tortuga with a mind to go after the treasure of the Isla de Muerta. That was before I'd met him, back when he was captain of the Black Pearl.'

'What?' Lettice and Will asked, shock on both of their faces. Gibbs, realizing his blunder of mentioning it, slowly lowered his drink.

'How long ago was this, Mr. Gibbs?' Lettice asked, trying to ease the shock from her face. He can't have sunk the Dauntless, with everyone she had come to love on it, could he?

'About 10 years ago, I reckon,' Gibbs said, his face thoughtful.

She exhaled, her stomach easing a bit, he was not in control of the Pearl when it had sunk what she had come to think of as family.

'He failed to mention that,' Will said, slightly astounded.

'Aye, he plays things closer to the vest now,' Gibbs said quickly, 'an' a hard-learned lesson it was. See, three days out into the venture, the first mate comes to 'im and says, 'Everything's an equal share. That should mean the location of the treasure, too.' So, Jack gives up the bearings. That night there was a mutiny.'

Will furrowed his brow at him as Lettice gave a soft murmur of, 'Oh, Jack.' She looked up to see him standing behind the wheel, her eyes soft with empathy.

'They marooned Jack on an island and left him to die. But not before he's gone mad with the heat,' Gibbs continued, leaning forwards as he got further into the story.

'Ah, so that's the reason for all the…' Will said, and widened his eyes, leaned back and gestured wildly with his hands.

'Reason's got nothin' to do with it.' Gibbs said darkly, his voice grim. He proceeded to sit down and Lettice and Will copied, the intrigue clear on both of there faces.

'Now, Will, Etta, when a pirate's marooned, he's given a pistol with a single shot. One shot. Now that won't do much good hunting, nor to be rescued. But after three weeks of a starvin' belly and thirst, that pistol start to look _real_ friendly. But Jack, he escaped the island, and he still has that single shot. Oh, he won't use it though, save on one man. His mutinous first mate.'

'Barbossa,' Lettice said, leaning forward to catch more of Gibbs's words.

'Aye,' Gibbs nodded.

'How did Jack get off the island?' Will asked, his brow furrowed once again.

'Well, I'll tell ye. He waded out into the shallows, and waited there for three days and three nights, till all manner of sea creature came acclimated to his presence. An' on the fourth morning, he roped himself a couple of sea turtles, lashed 'em together, and made a raft!' Gibbs said, his eyes shockingly blue as excitement filled them.

'He roped a couple of sea turtles.' Will repeated skeptically. Lettice frowned, the story Gibbs had told her before seemed true enough and she had seen Jack Sparrow's mind at work – he was indeed geniusly mad, but sea turtles seemed a stretch too far.

'Aye, sea turtles,' Gibbs confirmed.

'What did he use for rope?' Will asked. Gibbs opened his mouth too reply, but found himself at a loss for an answer.

'Human hair,' Jack said, causing Lettice to jump in surprise, 'from my back.' Lettice wrinkled her nose, not sure whether to gag or laugh. 'Lower the anchor line!' he shouted, 'young Mr Turner and I are to go ashore.'

Lettice quickly stood to follow, her eyebrows furrowed. 'And I am to stay here?' she asked.

Will grabbed her arm causing her to spin around and face him. 'Etta, please, just stay here. For me. I will not let them take both Elizabeth and you.'

She opened her mouth to shout at him again, but the sincere look of pain and care on his face made her stop. Instead she turned to Jack. 'Captain?' she asked as though whatever he said could decide the fate of her world, to her she supposed it did.

'I hate to say it, love, but the whelp is right,' he said softly, walking to stand in front of her. 'I'm surprised you're still standing with the amount you've slept. You'd be helpin' yourself by stayin' here and resting,' he said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, his fingers lingering on her cheek bone.

Lettice blushed furiously, cursing herself for the red stain now on her cheeks. She heard Jack chuckle and as though it brought her back to her senses, she looked up at him and said, 'as long as you promise I won't miss any adventure.'

He laughed before holding his hand over his heart and saying, 'I swear on pain of death that if anything adventurous is to happen, I will personally fetch you from your slumber and take you to the centre of said adventurous happening.'

She grinned and watched him begin to walk away before a sudden thought struck her. 'Jack,' she said quickly, 'you know about the pirates, don't you, about the curse?' she asked, she knew he would but still had to be sure.

'Aye, that I do. Now go and get some rest.'

She nodded, and mumbled a 'be careful,' before Gibbs walked up to Jack.

'Captain, what if the worst should happen?' he asked.

'Keep to the code.' Jack replied.

'Aye. The code.'

Lettice sent Will a questioning look, but he shrugged his shoulders, a similar look on his face.

Lettice made a mental note to add that to the many things she had to ask Gibbs.

**Sorry for the delay! I've been super busy. I hope there aren't any mistakes here, I am extremely tired so it might be awful, but I feel bad leaving you another day with no chapter. **

**x x **


	11. Chapter 11

'Mister Gibbs,' Lettice said, walking up to where the slightly weathered man stood, 'the code Jack said to stick to, what is it?' It had been around 3 hours since Will and Jack had left. She had tried to rest but found the nervous knot in her stomach kept her awake. Instead, she had scrubbed the deck thrice over until it had shone. She was running out of things to distract her.

'Pirates' Code, missy,' Gibbs said, realizing more had to be said when she raised one eyebrow. 'Any man who falls behind is left behind.'

Lettice considered this, she knew what Will would say about it – how very un-noble and _pirate_ it was. Although, she imagined it didn't take long for pirates, especially those like Jack, to catch up to those who left them. Before she could reply, a call of, '_It's Will and Miss Swann!' _had her rushing to the side of the boat.

The rest of the crew stood with her as they watched the two heave themselves up. 'Not more pirates.' Elizabeth said as she clambered on deck.

Lettice rolled her eyes and sighed in contempt, _how very grateful_, she thought maliciously.

'Lettice?' Elizabeth said in surprise, as her eyes flicked to the woman waiting anxiously for the other two men to climb aboard.

'Welcome aboard, Miss Elizabeth,' Gibbs said cheerfully, taking a step towards her.

'Mr Gibbs?' Elizabeth asked, shock and confusing colouring her voice.

Will soon pulled himself aboard and, upon seeing he was unharmed and seemingly fine, Lettice heaved out a sigh of relief, the knot in her stomach unwinding. She walked quickly towards him and Will laughed in surprise as Lettice threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder, smiling as she felt him wind his arms around her too.

'Hey, boy, where be Jack?' Gibbs asked Will.

Lettice frowned and unwound herself from Will, stepping back to inspect the two that had climbed aboard. In her relief that her brother was here safe and sound, she had completely overlooked the fact they were missing a certain pirate.

'Jack? Jack Sparrow?' Elizabeth said asked angrily, her accusing gaze flickering between Lettice and Will.

'Yes, Jack Sparrow, the man who saved your life.' Lettice bit back, her eyes icy.

'He fell behind.' Will said simply, avoiding the cold glare he could feel from Lettice before leading Elizabeth away.

Gibbs looked around at the crew, silence had come over each and every one of their stricken faces.

'Keep to the Code!' Gibbs managed to order, the battle of deciding whether to treat Jack as his Captain or his friend dancing across his sad eyes.

'You can't just leave him there!' Lettice said quickly, disbelief on her face. 'Your _pirates_, you don't need a Code to tell you what to do!'

'It were Jack's orders, Miss. Nothin' we can do about it now' Gibbs said, looking down at the now-clean floor.

'Nothing we can do? We can go and get him out!' Lettice said. She could feel the crew's stares but she couldn't help but raise her voice. Jack had argued for her freedom and she was determined to do the same for him.

'Lass, you be forgettin' that those are cursed men! We can't just run in guns blazin', we wouldn't stand a chance!' said another member of the crew from behind her.

'Besides,' said Gibbs, leaning in close to talk quietly in her ear, 'if I know Jack, won't be long till we be seein' him again.' Lettice leaned back to look at him and couldn't help the slight grin that emerged on her face as Gibbs grinned at her.

'Not long at all,' Lettice agreed, before leaning on the rail, her eyes searching the cursed island.

'Weigh anchor! Hoist the sails!' she heard Anamaria shout, 'split-quick, you dibbies!'

Lettice quickly pushed herself off of the rail where she leaned and ran to begin heaving the anchor up with the other men.

Her mind began to settle a bit with the steady rhythm of her heaving on the rope - Gibbs was right.

If she had learned anything about Captain Jack Sparrow, he would be out of there soon enough.

**I'm so, so sorry! I've been busy with Christmas and all that, sorry! But consider this a Christmas present, I know it's a very short chapter and I don't think I like it but it's the best I can do right now x x**

**Also, thank you so much to Skylarhellbound for the wonderful poem haha! It's what convinced me to get this chapter up. **


	12. Chapter 12

Lettice closed her eyes and felt the sea air fill her lungs. She wasn't sure how long it was since they had left Jack, but the further they moved, the more guilt she felt for it. She rest her back against the rails and listened to the wind quickly rush past her ears whilst her sword rest against her hip, reminding her of how much her heart had longed for this – for adventure.

Her eyes snapped open as shouts filled the air. The crew were scurrying around quickly. Something was definitely wrong. Soon, she heard Gibbs barking orders across the deck. Three words rung in her ears – _The Black Pearl._

Lettice quickly wrapped her hand around a rope and gracefully leaped higher on the rails to look behind the ship. Sure enough, the _Black Pearl_, surrounded by an unnatural mist, plowed through the mist towards them. She felt her heart pump quickly and suddenly her senses seemed more acute, the noises louder, the colours sharper - the _Pearl_ was hunting. She knew now was not the time to admire her, but even from a distance Lettice could tell the ghostly dark ship was a beauty.

She dropped down from where she had climbed and ran to the helm where Anamaria and Gibbs stood, determined to know what was happening. She couldn't help the breathless smile that had erupted on her face as the adrenaline pumped through her body. She felt so alive, so _pirate._

'The _Black Pearl_, she's catching us up?' Lettice asked Gibbs, her eyes searching the sweating man's face for any indication as to what the likely outcome of this chase was.

'Aye, lassy, not much can outrun th' _Pearl_!' Gibbs shouted back over the winds.

Before Lettice could respond, she turned towards the shouts of the blonde haired woman on the lower deck. 'What's happening?' Elizabeth asked.

'The _Black Pearl_, she's gaining on us!' Anamaria shouted as she gripped the wheel tightly, her knuckles white and her dark eyes wide.

'This is the fastest ship in the Caribbean!' Elizabeth said as she scrambled to join them at the helm.

'You can tell them that after they've caught us' Anamaria snapped back instantly.

Ignoring Elizabeth's unhelpful input, Lettice's eyes scanned the ocean, wracking her brain for anything that would be of use. Suddenly, her mind jolted as she remembered words James had once told her when he had described the _Interceptor_.

'We're shallower on the draft, right?' Lettice said quickly, moving towards where Anamaria stood.

'Aye,' Anamaria replied, her brow furrowed inquisitively.

Elizabeth, catching on to Lettice's thoughts moved forward to. 'Well then, can't we lose them amongst those shoals?' she asked.

Gibbs and Anamaria looked to where Elizabeth was pointing, Lettice too caught up in the goings on to be annoyed with Elizabeth.

'We don't have to outrun 'em long,' Gibbs exclaimed, enthusiasm bursting through his voice.

'Just long enough,' Lettice agreed.

'Lighten the ship! Stem to stern!' Anamaria shouted, hauling fiercely on the helm.

'Anything we can afford to lose, see that it's lost!' Gibbs ordered, rushing to the rail that looked over the lower deck and the crew.

Lettice quickly moved to where the crew were throwing cargo overboard, crate after crate viciously devoured by the pounding waves.

Will appeared beside her, helping her heave a particularly heavy wooden box into the waves below. She gave him a smile of thanks, her conscience heavy from how coldly she had reacted to the news that Will had left Jack behind.

He returned it quickly before grabbing onto a ratline and leaping onto the rail. He leaned out further to see the Black Pearl quickly approaching, so close now that he could easily count the sweeps that slowly extended like branches of an old tree.

His heart raced as he watched, the fear and adrenaline of a battle pumping through his body. The rail jolted beneath his feet as Marty readied himself to roll a heavy canon over the edge.

Will quickly brought his foot down onto the barrel, ignoring the scowl the small man gave him. 'We're gonna need that.'

Lettice leaned out and looked behind the ship. The _Pearl_ was pursuing them quickly, too quickly. She knew instantly they would not outrun the _Pearl_, there was only one other option. They would fight. The knowledge of this caused Lettice's heart to thunder and her chest to swell with sea air and anticipation.

She quickly made her way to the helm, knowing that anything she had to suggest would have to be passed through there.

'It was a good plan,' Anamaria said consolingly as she saw her join them, 'up till now.'

'Gibbs!' Will exclaimed as he burst onto the quarterdeck. 'We have to make a stand. We must fight! Load the guns!'

Lettice nodded furiously, she had forgot how similar her and Will could be at times.

'With what?' Anamaria asked, hopelessness clear on her face.

'Anything! Everything! Anything we have left.'

Lettice quickly slipped her hand in Will's and squeezed it, her mind flashing back to how they had met, how they had been blasted into the water, how very real the whole situation was. She felt his sweaty palms squeeze her hand back before letting go and she couldn't help but feel slightly calmer, she was sure he was the one thing that could keep her going through anything.

'Load the guns! Case shot and langrage! Nails and crushed glass!' Gibbs shouted after a moment of hopeless hesitation. He rushed through the crew, urging them to move quickly.

Lettice's gaze shifted to behind Anamaria to get a good look at the _Pearl_ as Elizabeth's searching eyes set upon Will. She needed him to meet her gaze, to assure her they'd be alright. Just for a moment. As though he had heard her thoughts, Will's eyes turned to meet hers. Elizabeth felt hope flood through her veins, and then he was gone, charging down to help the crew.

Lettice raked the ghostly ship which she was sure would be the most beautiful in the ocean if it was in the hands of the right Captain. She could see that they were too close for the _Interceptor _to turn and fight, the _Pearl _would take them without ever really giving them a chance. Lettice's brain began to shift through all of what her father had ever told her, about the things pirates did that he had deemed foolish but she had always thought incredibly daring and courageous

'The _Pearl_'s gonna luff up on our port quarter!' Gibbs exclaimed as he and Will scuttled onto the quarterdeck. 'She'll rake us without ever presenting a target.'

'Lower the anchor on the right side,' Lettice said quickly, suddenly thankful for her naval upbringing.

They stared at her as though she had gone insane.

'On the starboard side!' she urged impatiently.

'It certainly has the element of surprise.' Will said, determined to support the closest thing he'd ever have to a sister.

'You're daft, lady,' Anamaria said, the disbelief evident as her eyes widened, 'you both are.'

'Daft like Jack!' Gibbs said, his face lighting up. Lettice's eyes lit up and a breathless grin erupted on her face, her heart swelling with pride. Daft like Jack.

Gibbs charged towards the rail where the crew stood. 'Lower the starboards anchor!' he bellowed.

The crew looked at each other, not moving until Gibbs yelled, 'Do it, you gobs, or it's you we'll load into the cannons!'

They sprang into action and soon the _Interceptor_'s anchor was trailing rapidly along the seabed. Lettice braced herself against the side of the _Interceptor, _and before she knew what was happening the ship was angling round, the sound of the wood splitting filling Lettice's ears.

She heard Elizabeth call, 'Let go!' and the ship moved more smoothly, it's pace increasing.

Lettice held her head high and her face was determined as she glared down at the pirates in the ship across from then. She caught sight of a man who she could put a name to instantly, causing a shudder to go down her spine. Barbossa. She watched as he pulled her out his sword, causing her fingers to slide to where she could feel hers hanging at her side.

She unsheathed it as her voice rang proudly with Will's and Elizabeth's.

'Fire all!'

**I know I've been awful with updates recently. I am very sorry, I've just got a lot of work to do, but my fingers are itching to carry on writing this story – this is my favourite part.**

**Reviews keep me motivated **


	13. Chapter 13

Before Lettice could so much as breathe, the air was filled with cannon fire, each one sending a jolt through her body. She quickly dropped to the floor when a cannonball came hurtling towards her, her eyes wide and her heartbeat racing.

Soon Will was next to her, two guns in his hands. 'Are you alright?' he breathed, his eyes filled with worry as he searched her face.

'I'm fine, although at this distance _this_,' she said, raising her sword slightly, 'is pretty useless.'

'Then use this,' Will said rapidly, pushing a gun in her hand that did not hold the sword before disappearing back into the chaos.

She quickly sheathed her sword and inspected the gun in her hands; it was much like the ones she practiced with with Will, nothing too difficult to handle. She stood back up and stealthily followed Will, joining him behind one of the _Interceptor_'s rails. She huddled behind it where she could both dodge the bullets and get a clear shot, with Anamaria and Elizabeth ducking on her left side and Gibbs on Will's right.

They soon fell into a system in which Gibbs and Will shot, Elizabeth cleaned and reloaded the guns for them and Anamaria and Lettice did both. Lettice sighed in frustration, no matter how many direct hits they got, the pirates opposite them could not die. As the fight wore on, she was rapidly forgetting the point and purpose of the battle.

'We could use a few more ideas, lass!' Gibbs called to Lettice, apparently feeling the same way.

'It's someone else's turn!' she snapped in frustration, her muscles screaming.

'We need us a devil's dowry!' he proclaimed as he took aim at another enemy.

Before Lettice was quite sure what was going on, Anamaria had a firm hold on Elizabeth and a pistol pointed at her head. 'We'll give 'em her!'

'She's not what they're after,' Will said forcibly.

Anamaria let go of Elizabeth, whose eyes widened as she clutched at the empty space above her dress. It didn't take much for Lettice to figure out what she was searching for.

'The medallion,' the two women breathed at the same time.

Will's eyes widened, realisation of where he had left the medallion hitting him. Before Lettice could ask what had happened to it, Will had dropped his musket and was rushing across the deck, suddenly oblivious to the firing bullets. He reached the hatch and lifted it, dropping below deck and out of view.

Lettice watched the empty space where he had disappeared, suddenly forgetting all about the ongoing battle around them.

Forgetting, until Barbossa's roar filled the air.

'Hands, grapnels at the ready! Prepare to board!'

She prepared herself to reach for her sword, knowing she would be better off using it at a close distance than the gun, however before she could, something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention.

Two cannonballs held together by a heavy chain hurtled through the air, spinning, almost gracefully, towards the _Interceptor. _

All too soon, a loud crack filled Lettice's ears and wood splintered everywhere. The _Interceptor _creaked a low moan, and Lettice suddenly clutched onto Elizabeth as the once proud mast came toppling down on to the Pearl, the shrieks of splintering wood and taut rigging snapping filling the air.

Both ships moaned mournfully, lurching as they collided.

Lettice realised who she was holding onto and hastily let go of her, avoiding eye contact at all costs.

'Pistols and cutlasses, men! Koehler, Twigg, to the powder magazine! And the rest of you, bring me that medallion!' Barbossa shouted, causing Lettice to jolt back into the task at hand.

She pulled out her sword and moved back to prepare for the immortal pirates to join them. She watched the grapnels soar through the air towards the abused _Interceptor _and her blood started pounding. For a second, she wondered what her father would think if he could see her fighting amongst pirates but the thought was quickly abandoned when she was faced with a grinning, filthy pirate, sword raised.

Her eyes narrowed as he swung at her and she met him blow for blow. Each jolt of his sword against hers drew a little more energy from her as the fact that he could not die began to sink in. Out of the corner of her eye she saw one of the immortal men fall into the churning water and a grin grew on her face as she realised how she could get rid of the undead man before her.

'Tired yet, Missy?' he grinned, revealing the lack of teeth in his mouth.

'Not at all,' she growled, before she swung harder, causing him to be walked backwards towards the rail. When he was almost pushed against it, she kicked him hard in the chest causing him to fall back against it before bringing the hilt of her sword down on his face.

She watched as he toppled into the water and sighed in relief, realising how shaky her hands had become with the effort of the fight and something she didn't like to admit to, fear.

'Impressive,' she heard a call from behind her. She turned to see Elizabeth raising an eyebrow at her with a smile and she couldn't help but give her a small smile in return. She had to admit that the woman had seemed to have pulled her weight since she had joined them on the _Interceptor, _but that did not make her like her anymore than before they had left.

She turned back into another fight, however the aching in her arms made it harder for her to parry each blow from the oncoming pirate. Before she could react, the grimy pirate had hit her hand hard, causing her sword to scuttle across the deck.

She ducked to avoid the blow coming towards her neck and grabbed a musket from the floor, hitting the pirate in the face with it as she stood up as though it were a club.

Surprised at the action, the man fell backwards and hit the deck. Suddenly, someone was grabbing onto her arm and yanked her round to face them. It was another one of Barbossa's crew, his face covered in a mixture of filth and sweat.

She growled and raised the musket to hit him too; however he raised his sword to swing at her causing her to stop suddenly and her eyes to widen.

A calloused, tanned hand caught his wrist, stopping the sword from its journey. The pirate turned to look at the familiar face as did Lettice and her eyes lighted up in joy. Jack.

'That's not very nice,' Jack told him, before Lettice wrenched her hand free and hit him hard in the face with the musket, causing him to topple over the edge.

'Jack! You caught up!' she breathed, an air of disbelief in her voice.

'Always do,' he grinned. Lettice opened her mouth to tell him how glad she was, but be a shot stopped her as it came towards them. Jack lunged towards the rail where Elizabeth had taken cover to shoot again, pulling Lettice with him.

'Where's the medallion?'

'Wretch!' Elizabeth spat, furiously hitting him, causing Lettice to huff out a sigh of annoyance and roll her eyes.

He caught one of Elizabeth's hands as it came down to hit him again, looking at the bandaging surrounding it.

'Ah,' he said, raising his eyes to her face, 'where is dear William?'

'Will,' Lettice chocked, realising she had not seen him come out of the hatch, and ran across the deck towards it, ignoring Jack's questioning look.

She quickly threw herself down on her knees next to the hatch and pulled on it furiously. Suddenly, another woman was next to her, peering down into it. 'Will!'

'Elizabeth!' he called back. Lettice gulped at his panic-stricken eyes.

Together, Lettice and Elizabeth pulled onto the grate. Lettice's heart rate was increasing with each failed attempt, the sound of gurgling water around Will causing her hands to shake with fear and frustration as panic set in.

'We can't move it!' Elizabeth called, the frustration making her voice harsh.

Suddenly, harsh hands wrapped around their arms yanking them away from the hatch. Elizabeth began to scream loudly and the two began to thrash violently in the immortal pirates' arms, Lettice's heart growing cold in fear of her brother's safety.

'Elizabeth! Etta!' William called, peering up to see them taken away.

They were pulled harshly onto the _Black Pearl_, Lettice's jaw set as she tried to pull out of the tight grip she was held in.

She turned to see Jack scurry along the _Interceptor_'s broken mast towards the _Black Pearl_, apparently after a monkey. He froze suddenly with an outstretched hand when he noticed Barbossa standing in front of him, monkey on shoulder. Lettice could see Will's medallion shining in his hand.

'Why, thank ye, Jack,' he smirked.

'You're welcome,' Jack replied, returning his faux-smile.

'Not you. We named the monkey Jack. Gents! Our hope is restored!' he called.

Lettice's ears were filled with the sounds of cheers from the pirates around her, her stomach sinking in the realisation that they had lost.


	14. Chapter 14

Lettice was shoved roughly towards the crew and tied to the mast, Gibbs on her left side and Elizabeth on her other. Despite her compromising position, she held her head high, she would not let them belittle her.

'Any of you so much as thinks the word "parley", I'll 'ave your guts for garters!' Pintel said as he stalked around the prisoners, gun pointed threateningly.

'Parley,' Lettice stated, not missing the smirk of amusement Jack threw her. Pintel growled furiously and began stalking back to her, when Elizabeth, using the distraction, climbed out from under the ropes.

She began to lunge towards Barbossa's unguarded back, but stopped suddenly when a loud explosion filled their ears. The _Interceptor _was blown from the water, a mixture of water and wood flying through the air.

Lettice's heart stopped for a second, silence covered her ears and no one in the world was in motion. Then, everything started again, all too quick.

'Will!' she gasped in shock, Elizabeth doing the same.

Suddenly, Elizabeth was attacking Barbossa's back, her voice shrill as she kicked and clawed at him. 'You've got to stop it! Stop it!' she screamed.

Barbossa turned and easily caught her arms, his face close to hers as he spoke. 'Welcome back, miss. You took advantage of our hospitality last time. It holds fair now you return the favour!' he sneered before launching her into the arms of clawing pirates.

Lettice felt sick to the stomach, she did not like the woman but no one deserved to be treated like that. 'You'll be next, lassy,' Barbossa stated with a grin upon seeing Lettice's now-pale face.

'Barbossa!' A deep voice called out. Lettice knew who the voice belonged to before even looking to him. Will.

Barbossa turned to face him and the savage crew stilled, still clasping onto Elizabeth.

'Will,' Lettice breathed, allowing herself to close her eyes for a second and take a deep breath of relief.

'She goes free!' he stated, picking up Jack's pistol and walking towards Barbossa.

Everyone's eyes were now on Will, so Lettice took the opportunity to slip out from underneath the ropes. She moved quickly to stand next to Jack, who grinned at her.

Before she could return the smile, a dirty hand grabbed her shoulder and roughly pulled her back. She gasped in surprise and staggered back slightly, grabbing onto Jack's arm to stop her from falling. He turned to see one of Barbossa's crew, a previous crew member of _his_, begin to pull Lettice back and his brow furrowed instantly.

'Oi!' He said as he swatted the pirate's hand away, before wrapping his arm around Lettice's shoulders and guiding her to stand back next to him. He gave her shoulders a comforting squeeze before letting his arm drop.

'What's in your head, boy?' Barbossa spat, moving towards Will.

'She goes free,' he said roughly.

'You've only got one shot, and we can't die.'

'Don't do anything stupid,' Jack said quickly, his hands together as though he were praying.

Will glanced at Jack before turning and clambering speedily onto the rail where he had previously appeared from.

'You can't,' he stated, pointing the gun at Barbossa. Then he put the pistol against his jaw, causing Lettice to groan. 'I can.'

'Like that,' Jack murmured, wincing slightly. Lettice was shaking her head at Will, hoping he would shut up. If he wasted their one thing to bargain, they'd _all_ end up dead. Even his precious Elizabeth.

Who _are_ you?' Barbossa asked, slightly taken aback.

'No one!' Lettice called quickly, moving forward slightly.

Jack followed suit. 'He's no one! A distant cousin of my aunt's nephew, twice removed. Lovely singing voice, though,' he said, his face now in Barbossa's. 'Eunuch,' he added, gesturing to Will.

Lettice had to bite down the laugh that threatened to erupt. Even in times like this, Jack's wit, his humour, seemed completely unphased.

'My name is Will Turner! My father was Bootstrap Bill Turner. His blood runs in my veins.'

Lettice huffed in annoyance. She knew what he was doing was incredibly courageous and his heart was in the right place, but sometimes he just didn't use his _bloody_ brain_._

'Do you think we stand much of a chance?' she asked Jack, who was standing next to her again.

'Thanks to bloody William, I doubt it,' he said, the irritation obvious in his voice.

'It's the spitting image of old Bootstrap Bill come back to haunt us,' Ragetti cried, fear trembling through his voice.

'On my word, do as I say, or I'll pull this trigger, and be lost to Davy Jones' locker!'

'Name y'er terms, Mr Turner,' Barbossa said.

'Elizabeth goes free!' he demanded.

'Yes, we know that one. Anything else?' Barbossa asked, his voice both mocking and irritated.

Will looked over to Jack, who pointed to himself and then to Lettice.

'Lettice goes free too. And the crew!' He said, pointing at them with his gun quickly before placing back onto his neck, 'the crew are not to be harmed.'

Lettice widened her eyes at him and pointed to Jack. If they had any chance of surviving all this it would be with Jack. Before Will could even look at her, Barbossa had moved forward to face him.

'Agreed.'

Elizabeth stood shakily along the plank, the ill-fitting dress lifted so she wouldn't trip.

'Go on, poppet! Walk the plank!' Pintel taunted, waving his sword along with the crew.

She walked to the end where she looked down at the water, worry clear on her face. Lettice watched from behind her, where she was held until it was her turn.

'Barbossa, you lying bastard. You swore they'd go free,' Will shouted, struggling against the men holding him.

'Don't dare impugn me honour, boy. I agreed they'd go free, but it was you who failed to specify when or where,' he smirked.

Lettice growled and pushed herself forward, determined to slap the smirk off of his face but was roughly pulled back again.

The immortal pirates jeered, savouring the feeling of having the upper-hand. Then, Barbossa turned his attention back to Elizabeth.

'Though it does seem a shame t'lose something so fine, don't it lads?' he asked, and a rumble of 'aye's were heard. 'So I'll be havin' that dress back before ye go.'

Elizabeth turned to face them, as she began to pull off the dress. She was almost fuming with anger. Lettice could understand she had a reason to be angry but it wasn't so bad – the expensive shift she was wearing was not dissimilar to the plain, now-very-dirty, blue dress Lettice wore, in fact, Elizabeth was probably covered in more material than she was.

'It goes with your black heart,' she spat at him venomously as she shoved the dress into his hands.

'Ooh, it's still warm,' Barbossa leered before throwing it into the group of pirates.

Elizabeth began to walk down the plank shakily as Pintel urged her forwards from the edge of the boat. Lettice could practically feel the heartbreak emitting from Will and didn't dare turn around to see his face, knowing how wounded he would look.

Elizabeth turned and sought out Will's eyes. She opened her mouth to say something, however Barbossa's crew had enough waiting.

'Too long!' the bo'sun boomed, bringing his boot down onto the plank. It jerked under Elizabeth's feet and plunged her into the cool water below.

Lettice gulped. Her turn.

She was pushed roughly onto the plank where she began to walk down quickly, not wanting the same embarrassment as Elizabeth.

'Ah, Miss Evans, it's a shame to see ye go, my crew and me hoped we could get better acquainted,' he leered at her. She looked over her shoulder, the venom clear in her usually-warm brown eyes.

'Unfortunately, Barbossa, I wouldn't willingly come within 10 feet of you,' she spat.

'Is that so, lass? Then maybe ye could be so kind as t'share yer dress wit' the crew as Miss 'Turner' did,' he grinned.

Ignoring the crews jeers, she gave a reassuring look to Will, before flicking her eyes back to Barbossa.

'Rot in hell, you bastard,' were the last words she said before she plunged herself into the cold embrace of the salty water.


	15. Chapter 15

Lettice panted as she dragged herself through the shimmering water, her limbs screaming and her throat burning from the salty water.

She turned around to look at the _Black Pearl_, her hand raised to her eyes to block out the sun. She watched as Jack did the same, and assumed Elizabeth had also as she could no longer hear her trudging through the water.

'That's the second time I've had to watch that man sail away with my ship,' Jack said, squinting as his ship sailed away, the mist that surrounded her following.

'I'm so sorry, Jack,' Lettice said, wading back in to the waves to stand next to him. She placed a hand on his arm and began to rub it comfortingly, her eyes fixed on the beautifully dark ship.

'Nothing for you to be sorry for, love,' he said as he placed his hand over hers on his arm, his eyes still fixed on the _Black Pearl_.

'I should've done something, _anything_, I should've made a better deal,' she said, frowning.

'That's bloody William's fault, not yours,' he said, looking down at her.

She smiled sadly up at him before slipping her hand out from under his and turning to walk onto the beach. They walked up the beach until the waves were no longer lapping at their boots and flopped onto the warm sand as Elizabeth walked away from them.

Lettice pulled off her water-logged black boots, placing them next to her to dry as Jack set about putting his on two pieces of driftwood. She then ran her fingers through her dark hair, now wavy from the salty water, before leaning back on her elbows and watched Jack intently.

She watched as he began to clean his pistol, inspecting every little detail of it. She found him fascinating. The way he moved was so… _enchanting_, she found even a task as mundane as cleaning a pistol intriguing to watch when it was being done by Jack Sparrow.

'Will's still a good man, you know,' Lettice said, feeling as though she should offer some sort of good word for him, 'a stupid one sometimes, but I suppose he can't be blamed for that.'

'Bloody stupid's about right,' Jack mumbled, flashing her a look before turning back to his pistol.

'_Miss Swann_ seems to have trapped him under some sort of curse, he's not usually this dim, I assure you,' she laughed before adding softly, 'stupid boy's gone and fallen in love.'

Jack frowned, he found it hard to believe that even a man as dim as young William could fall for Elizabeth when he was faced with someone such as Lettice. She was far more interesting. 'Love's a bloody curse,' he mumbled.

Lettice cocked her head as she looked at him. 'Have you ever been in love, Jack?' she asked, she couldn't help the slight bubble of jealousy that rose inside of her.

'Aye, I'd say so. With the _Pearl _and the sea, and look where that's got me,' he teased, circling the hand holding the pistol to gesture to the sand around them. 'And what about you, Miss Evans?' he asked.

'I thought I was, once,' she mused. She glanced at him quickly before continuing, anticipating Jack's reaction. 'I had a slight infatuation with Commodore Norrington,' she continued, blushing slightly at the memory, she wasn't usually very open about her feelings – past or present.

Jack swung round causing his beads to sway into his face.

'Norrington?' he asked in astonishment, 'what would _you _possibly see in that stick-in-the-mud?' he asked, his voice sounding almost offended.

'He's a good man, Jack,' she said, curling her toes in the warm sand.

'Well you're judgement of good men seems slightly different to mine,' he grumbled. 'I suppose he's good for a boring woman who wants a boring life with a boring stick and ugly Norrington-children, but not _you_.'

She laughed and shook her head. 'I soon learned from my mistakes, anyway, as soon as I realised how completely taken he was with Elizabeth.'

He frowned at her. 'Well then, most definitely his loss, my dear Letty. But certainly a blessing in disguise, eh? Wouldn't want you to be married to someone like _Norrington_, no, certainly not your type,' he said, his face wrinkled in disgust as he continued to inspect his pistol.

Lettice laughed softly before quietly adding, 'certainly not.' She watched as Elizabeth stopped in front of them, her eyes following her still-fresh footsteps in the sand. It had taken her no time at all to walk around the island.

'It's really not all that big, is it?' Jack asked as he continued to inspect the pistol.

She turned to face them. 'If you're going to shoot me, please do so without delay.'

Lettice rolled her eyes and pushed herself up into a sitting position. 'I'd be happy to comply,' she murmured so only Jack could hear. He laughed quietly and Lettice was sure she could feel it rumble through her.

He leaned forwards, resting his arms on his knees and looked up at her. 'Is there a problem between us, Miss Swann?'

'You were going to tell Barbossa about Will in exchange for a ship,' she said venomously, her glare icy cold despite the Caribbean sun beating down on them.

'We could use a ship,' Lettice retorted, glaring back up at the woman.

Elizabeth screwed up her face and opened her mouth to snap at Lettice, but Jack interrupted first.

'The fact is I was going to _not_ tell Barbossa about bloodyWill in exchange for a ship, because as long as he didn't know about bloody Will, I had something to bargain with. Which now, no one has, _thanks_ to bloodystupidWill!'

Jack stood up, watching the realisation dawn in Elizabeth's eyes.

'Oh.'

'Oh,' Jack mocked, shoving his pistol into his sash.

Lettice stood up and brushed the sand from her dress, wishing Elizabeth was somewhere far, far from here. Or perhaps she was somewhere far, far from here and Elizabeth was stuck here, all by herself. Either way, she wanted as much distance between her and the woman as possible.

'He still risked his life to save ours!' Elizabeth argued, clutching onto whatever pride she had left. Lettice couldn't help but agree with this, he had been _stupidly _courageous.

'Ha!' Jack barked, storming towards the trees.

Elizabeth quickly chased after him. 'So we have to do something to rescue him!'

Jack swung round suddenly and shooed her away. 'Off you go then! Let me know how that turns out.'

Lettice sighed and followed them as they walked further into the trees.

'But you were marooned on this island before weren't you? So we can escape in the same way you did then!' Elizabeth shouted, chasing him still.

'To what point and purpose, young missy? The _Black Pearl_ is gone. Unless you have a rudder and a lot of sails hidden in that bodice – unlikely, young Mr Turner will be dead long before you can reach him.'

Lettice tried to fight the sinking feeling in her heart. She had known that this was the truth as soon as she stepped foot on the plank, but hearing the words out of Jack's mouth made everything seem suddenly more real.

Lettice watched with interest as he put his ear against a tree and began to knock on it. She frowned, she was certain it was hollow. She moved from her place watching them to stand beside him, watching with interest.

Suddenly, Elizabeth appeared around the other side of the tree. 'But you're _Captain Jack Sparrow_. You vanished from under the eyes of seven agents of the East India Company. You sacked Nassau Port without even firing one shot. Are you the pirate I've read about or not?' she shouted as Jack began to lung across the sand.

Lettice's eyebrows flew up. She was not sure what she was more interested by, the seemingly unnatural ground Jack was now jumping on, or the fact dear Govenor Swann let Elizabeth read about pirates.

'How did you escape last time?' she asked, her face close to his.

He looked quickly at Lettice, hesitating and sighed as she cocked her head and stepped forwards to listen. He sighed, this was going to hurt him to say, even more so with Lettice watching him intently with deep brown eyes. The thought of her feeling bad about him struck home. He'd have managed with just Elizabeth, he could stand her thinking bad of him, but not the intriguing creature waiting expectantly, not her.

_Just don't look at her,_ he thought, looking back to Elizabeth.

'Last time I was here a grand total of three days, alright? Last time…' he continued, pulling up the bit of wood in the ground to reveal a large hole, 'the rum runners used this island as a cache. They came by and I was able to barter passage off.' He began to climb down the stairs, thankful for the cold air that encased him. 'From the looks of things, they've long been out of business. Probably have your bloody friend Norrington to thank for that.'

He rose from the ground with three bottles of dark liquid and finally looked at Lettice, but upon seeing surprise, not disappointment in her face, began to head towards her.

He stopped as a furious Elizabeth stood in his tracks. 'So that's it, then? That's the secret, grand adventure of the infamous Jack Sparrow. You spent three days lying on a beach drinking rum?'

'Welcome to the Caribbean, love,' he said, opening his arms before pushing round her to walk towards Lettice.

'Does she bloody ever shut up?' he murmured to Lettice as he reached her, pushing a bottle of rum into her hand and grabbing her arm with his now free hand, pulling her down the beach with him.

'I wouldn't count on it,' she grumbled as Elizabeth once again stood in their path.

'So, is there any truth to the other stories?' she asked, eyeing the hand that was holding Lettice's arm.

'Truth?' he asked, a new type of anger colouring his words. He dropped the bottles of rum and Lettice's arm and lifting his sleeve to reveal the pirate brand on his arm.

He then lifted his other sleeve to reveal a web of angry scars covering the inside of his arm. Lettice's arm twinged in sympathy as her eyes grazed them, her heart pounding.

He then pulled the neckline of his shirt loose to reveal two red bullet wounds, each one showing the potential to have left him dead. 'No truth at all.'

Lettice realised she had been holding her breath, and exhaled slowly, but could not find words to say. Jack sat down, uncorking one of the bottles of rum before gently pulling Lettice's arm until she was sat next to him.

'Still have a month, maybe more. Keep a weather eye open for passing ships and our chances are fair.'

'And what about Will?' Elizabeth asked as Lettice uncorked her bottle and peered inside of it, 'we have to do something.'

'You're absolutely right,' Jack said, rolling a bottle of rum towards Elizabeth before uncorking another. 'Here's luck to you, Will Turner' he said, raising his bottle.

'Heaven knows he'll need it,' Lettice said, clinking her bottle with Jack's.

She looked at the bottle wearily again, before looking at Jack to see him watching her with amusement. She lifted the bottle to her mouth and took a long sip. The liquid burned down her throat, causing her to swallow it quickly before spluttering. Jack laughed and rubbed her back until she had stopped coughing, drinking from his own bottle.

Elizabeth slowly picked up the bottle that had been encased by a small wave and uncorked it. She sat on Jack's other side and inspected it.

'Drink up me hearties, yo ho,' she said to herself before raising the bottle to her lips.

Lettice gasped in recognition, she had heard her sing it on the crossing from England, it hadn't been long before Lettice had picked up the words.

Jack looked at Lettice enquiringly before turning to Elizabeth. 'What was that, Elizabeth?'

'It's _Miss Swann_,' Elizabeth snapped. 'Nothing, just a song I learnt as a child when I actually thought it would be exciting to meet a pirate?'

'You were wiser as a child than you are now,' Lettice commented, lifting the rum to her lips again, starting to enjoy the burning sensation down her throat.

'Let's hear it,' he said.

'No.'

'Come on, we've got the time,' Lettice joined in, rolling the bottle between her hands.

'Aye!' Jack agreed, placing a hand on Lettice's knee and squeezing it. Lettice cursed herself as the pit of her stomach fluttered and a blush coloured her cheeks, Jack would not so much as glance at her with Elizabeth sitting in her shift fluttering her dark eyelashes. 'Let's have it.'

'No!' Elizabeth protested. 'I'd have to have a lot more to drink.'

Jack lifted the bottle before hesitating.

'How much more?'

**I'm sorry I've taken so long to update, I've had exams this week and I've got more soon! I'll try and update in the next couple of days, sorry again! x x**


	16. Chapter 16

'Drink up me hearties yo ho!'

Lettice took another long swig from the bottle she was holding, watching from where she sat as Jack and Elizabeth danced around the fire.

She stretched her legs in front of her and looked up at the clear stars, swaying slightly due to the dizzy feeling that encased her. She glanced at Jack and Elizabeth and scoffed; the rum in her stomach burning as she watched. Elizabeth could have any man she wanted under the sun with a flash of her dark lashes, it would seem, even _bloody_ Jack Sparrow.

She could hear her father's words echo in her head.

'_Jealousy is not becoming on a young lady, Lettice Annette Evans!' _

She snorted as she took another swig of her rum.

'And I suppose drinking's not either,' she muttered to herself, downing the remaining amber liquid in her bottle.

She jumped out of her thoughts as Jack began to stumble towards her singing, looking as though he'd fall any second

'My dear Letty, why are you sitting all on your onsies?' he asked, looking down at her in mock concern. 'Come and dance with ol' Jack, dear Lettice!' he slurred, opening his arms wide.

'I don't dance, Captain Sparrow,' she laughed, the feeling of jealousy leaving as Jack grinned down at her.

'Nonsense, Miss Evans!' Jack countered, grabbing her arm and hoisting her up. 'Course 'yer do!'

'Jack, I can't,' she protested as he held tightly onto her hand and dragged her towards the fire, 'I am an awful dancer.'

He stopped and turned to face her, pushing his bottle of rum into her hand. 'Find this helps, love,' he grinned.

She raised one eyebrow at him before sighing and gulping down the bottle, grinning at his surprised look.

'You drink like a bloody scallywag.'

'Drink up me hearties yo ho,' was all she offered before Jack was pulling her round the fire by her hand, and it wasn't soon before the three of them were singing at the top of their voices.

'_We're devils, we're black sheep we're really bad eggs, drink up me hearties, yo ho! Yo ho, yo ho a pirate's life for me!'_

'I love this song!' Jack proclaimed, throwing his arms out wide before linking his arm with Lettice's spinning her round as she laughed loudly.

Jack swung free, wobbling a bit before falling backwards into the sand. 'Really bad eggs!'

Lettice giggled as he fell on his back, laughing even more as he gripped her wrist, pulling her down next to him.

Elizabeth quickly joined them, snuggling close to his other side.

'When I get th'_Pearl _back, I'm going to teach it to the whole crew,' he slurred, waving his hands in his excitement, 'and we'll sing it all the time!'

Elizabeth leaned close to him, holding her head up proudly. 'And you will be positively the most fearsome pirates in the Spanish Main.'

'Not just the Spanish Main, love,' Jack countered. 'The entire ocean.'

'The entire world!' Lettice corrected, her eyes wild.

Jack grinned at her, pulling her closer to him by wrapping his arm around her waist. Lettice could feel the blush on her cheeks instantly, enjoying Jack's warm embrace and the feel of the warm rum in her stomach.

'Exactly. Wherever we want to go, we go. That's what a ship is, you know,' Jack said, his attentions turning to the dark waters, glistening in the moonlight, each star reflected clearly as though the ocean were made of mirrors. 'It's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails. That's what a ship _needs_,' he paused, glancing to see if his audience were watching. 'But what a ship is…what the _Black Pearl _really is…,' his voice softened for a moment, 'is freedom.'

Lettice sat silent for a moment, her breath stuck in her throat at the beauty of his words. She was sure _this_ was the real Jack Sparrow, she was sure this was the man rumoured to charm the seas. Stripped of all his layers, the swaggering and the slurring, she could see his mind was a truly beautiful place to be. She felt she finally understood him.

She opened her mouth to say something, something that she could feel bubbling inside of her, the beauty of his words causing her own to form on her tongue. She opened her mouth to speak something real, something she felt deep within her, her inner-most thoughts… but was abruptly interrupted.

'Jack, it must be really terrible for you to be trapped on this island,' she sighed, nuzzling into his neck.

'Oh yes,' Jack replied, moving a hand around Elizabeth's shoulders. 'But the company is infinitely better than last time, and the….'

Lettice quickly unwound Jack's arm from her waist and stood up, the warm feeling in her stomach quickly left. Jack looked up from Elizabeth to her, his eyebrows raised in question.

'More rum,' she grumbled as an answer, quickly turning around and walking towards the hatch Jack had opened earlier. She didn't understand the clenching feeling on her heart but she would not watch Elizabeth flutter her eyelashes at yet another man and watch them fall under her spell. Especially when Will was somewhere far away from where they were facing almost certain death because he tried to save _her_.

'Yes, it is all to do with Will and nothing to do with the fact it's Jack she's fluttering at,' she muttered to herself, trying to convince her heart to stop beating in icy stabs.

She walked down the stairs and looked at the dusty shelves containing the amber liquid she was sure would warm her heart back up. She grabbed a bottle when a small voice behind her caused her to turn around.

'Lettice,' Elizabeth said quietly.

She sighed. 'Yes, Elizabeth?'

'I know you aren't particularly _fond _of me,' she paused, her voice still quiet. 'But I need your help.'

'My help?' Lettice asked, raising her eyebrows.

'Yes, your help,' Elizabeth replied, taking a deep breath to collect her thoughts before beginning her explanation. 'You see, the longer we wait here, the further Barbossa gets and the more likely it is that Will is dead. You and I both know that we cannot let that happen. The entire navy will be out looking for m- _us_, if I could create a signal high enough, they would be sure to find us in no time…'

Lettice nodded, feeling as though she knew what was coming. 'And where does my help come into this?'

'Well, the only way I can see to signal them is to make a fire big enough, a fire that would have to burn everything we have,' she paused again, watching Lettice as her face calculated. 'I _can't _do that with Jack around. I need your help, if you could just distract him, get him drunk enough, I'm certain I could start the fire.'

She raised one eyebrow at Elizabeth, who managed to still hold her head up in pride despite having to look down at Lettice. 'Why don't you do it' she asked.

Elizabeth sighed. 'Isn't it obvious? It's not secret that he is fonder of you than he is of I. Every time you get up and leave, Jack won't let me distract him, he's too busy looking for you,' she said, her voice stronger now as she watched Lettice's eyebrows fly up in surprise. 'Please,' she whispered, the desperation evident in her voice, 'I can't do it on my own.'

Lettice could feel her heart racing at Elizabeth's words, but ignored them – now was no time to ponder over Jack's affections. She looked down at her still bare feet, nibbling her bottom lip as she thought. Jack had got her this far, he had most definitely proved his worth. But Will was like her own _brother_ and she did not trust Jack to bring her back to him. She could not let Will get further away, she had sworn to protect him.

She turned and picked up two bottles, one for her and one for Jack. She paused, thinking about how he would not be best pleased when he realised what had happened, and grabbed another before walking up the stairs to Elizabeth.

'Promise me this,' she said, looking Elizabeth square in the eye. 'You will not hurt Will.'

'Hurt him?' Elizabeth asked in confusion.

'Whether he admits it or not, he's not as strong as he seems, not when it comes to his heart. I won't let you break it.'

Elizabeth nodded, wringing her hands as she looked back into Lettice's eyes.

'Then I'll help you, but only because I won't -_can't _live without Will,' Lettice said before marching down the beach to where Jack was sat.

Elizabeth exhaled, relief filling her stomach before she eyed the barrels in the hatch, calculating how much time she'd need.

She only hoped Lettice would be true to her word and that she could be true to hers.

**Sorry it's been awhile – exams and everything! I'm not sure about this chapter, but I hope you like it! x x **


	17. Chapter 17

Stopping to hide the extra bottle of rum behind a rock, Lettice made her way towards where Jack was sitting, his eyes out to sea.

She stopped a few paces behind where Jack sat, hesitation gluing her to where she stood. Nervousness fluttered in her stomach as she thought about what she was about to do. She had no doubt that Jack would escape if the navy did arrive, yet that did not stop the guilt from clawing at her. She knew in her heart that not even the navy could keep _Captain _Jack Sparrow for long, but still, she _couldn't _betray him, could she? Not when he had helped her and Will get this far.

_Will._ The name brought a new flood of emotions over her. No, this was something she had to do. Not for her, for her brother. She would not let him get further away from her, not when she could do something about it.

A new determination set in her heart, she pulled the cork out of one of the bottles and took a long swig. She would do all that she could to ensure Jack would survive, but Will came first.

'I'm going to walk further down the beach. Care to join me, Captain Sparrow?' she asked loudly, opening her arms wide, each hand holding a bottle of rum.

Jack looked round at her, his grin spreading as she offered him one of the bottles in her hand.

'Aye, a walk down the beach it is, Miss Evans,' he replied, jumping to his feet and offering her his arm.

Laughing, she hooked her arm around his and began pulling him down the beach. Deciding they had walked far enough for Elizabeth to do what she needed to, she slipped her arm out of his and flopped onto the floor, burying her toes into the still warm sand.

She felt Jack sit beside her as she watched the sea. It glistened in the moonlight as wave after wave crashed on the sandy shore like charging horses, each one leaving a frothy white trail behind it.

She looked at Jack as he took another swig, his eyes studying the horizon and she knew instantly what he was thinking of. It was not easy to hide pain and longing in your eyes, even if it was a ship you were longing after.

'She'll come back to you. You'll get her back, you know. I promise to you I will do all I can to help you get her back,' she said quietly, determination thickening her voice.

Jack's eyes widened in surprise before a small smile graced his features. He raised his bottle to his lips and let the amber liquid run down his throat before turning his head to study Lettice.

'Well what about this, an accord if you will. I get back the _Pearl_, and I'll take you to see anywhere your heart desires on her, if that's what you should so want,' he said, watching with a sense of pride as her eyes lit up.

She felt the blood in her body hum as she played his words in her head, the promise of freedom that effortlessly tumbled from his lips.

'Do you really mean that, Jack? For if you don't you better say so now,' she said, her words tumbling out with excitement.

He chuckled, the rumbling in his chest seeming to go to hers. 'Of course I do, love. What would I be if not a man of me word?'

'We have an accord' she laughed, holding out her bottle towards him. The guilt she had felt before seemed to have washed away with his words.

Jack grinned, clinking his bottle against hers before they both took a long swig.

Lettice leaned back into the sand until she was looking up at the stars. She traced every constellation her father had taught her as she lost herself in thought, forgetting where she was as she thought of her brother, of Elizabeth, of her father, of Jack.

'What's on your mind, love?' Jack asked from beside her, finding himself genuinely wanting to know the answer. It was not often Jack found someone interesting, especially someone from somewhere like Port Royal, but there was something about her that beckoned him, something that had Jack intrigued.

Dragging her eyes away from the guiding stars above her, she turned her head to look at him before answering in a small voice. 'What's it like to know people would follow you if you asked them to? If you really needed them to?'

Jack's eyebrows creased as he studied her face, watching as her dark eyes seemed to deepen with a sadness that seemed so foreign to the woman that had seemed so strong to him. 'What do you mean, love?'

She sighed, pushing herself into a sitting position and chewing on the side of thumb before responding. 'Will, Will would follow Elizabeth if she needed him too, even if it would kill him. I don't doubt that James would to,' she said, collecting her thoughts before continuing. 'And your crew, they'd follow you if you needed them. I don't have that, and I… I don't think I ever will.'

'Ah, you're wrong there, love. I don't think some rum-soaked scallywags we managed to scrape out of Tortuga would follow me,' Jack said, his eyes going back to the horizon as he thought about his crew.

She thought about this for a moment, circling the top of her bottle with her finger. 'Well, I'd follow you,' she said. 'If you needed someone to, I'd follow you.'

Jack raised his eyebrows as a smile grew on his face. 'How far are we talking here, dear Letty?'

She glanced at him and couldn't help but smile at his pleased expression. 'To the ends of the Earth, Sparrow.'

'That far, eh?' Jack grinned, raising one eyebrow.

'Afraid so,' Lettice smirked back.

'Well, I swear on pain of death, I'll follow you to the world's end if such a situation should arise,' Jack said, placing his hand on his heart.

Lettice laughed as he threw his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him before her expression became serious.

'I would though, Jack. I mean it,' Lettice said, relishing in the warmth emitting from Jack's body. 'You're the closest thing to a best friend I've ever had. You're not like anybody I've ever met, you know that?'

'I try, love,' he grinned, squeezing her shoulder.

Jack leaned back, pulling her with him until they were both lying in the sand, Jack's arm still around her shoulders.

Lettice curled into his side and inhaled the musky scent of the sea, rum and something else she couldn't quite put her finger on.

She waited until his breathing became even, and, when she was sure he was asleep, sat up and looked towards where Elizabeth stood, piling the rum ready to create a fire.

Lettice let out a shaky sigh, and ran her hands through her salty hair.

'We'll be there soon, William,' she muttered, watching the horizon as though the _Black Pearl_ would reappear, bringing her brother with it.

Deciding it was best to rest, she settled back down next to Jack, resting her head on his chest. Her mind raced with what could happen to her brother until the steady rise and fall of his along with the heat of his body and the sound of the waves lulled her to sleep.

**I'm sorry it's been so long! I've been redecorating my room and then I was ill so I haven't had much time for this, but hopefully I can get back into the swing of things now. This isn't one of my best chapters, but I've been out of practice. They'll improve soon, I promise. X x **


	18. Chapter 18

Lettice rubbed her eyes with the heel of her hands, nestling further into the warm yet hard pillow beneath her head.

_Pillow?_

Snapping her eyes open, Lettice noticed what, or _who_, she was lying on before pushing herself quickly to her feet.

'Good thing you were asleep,' she mumbled, suddenly noticing the throbbing in her head. Groaning, she rubbed her forehead softly as she scanned the horizon. Half of the bright blue sky was blocked by a thick smoke which suddenly filled her nostrils.

'Good, you're up,' Elizabeth called from where she stood next to the fire.

Turning her head sharply towards her in surprise, the events of the previous night flooded over Lettice like the waves they had crashed through the day before. She focused her eyes onto the large fire that Elizabeth was still adding to, the dark smoke rising high into the clear blue sky. She had to hand it to her, there was no way someone who was searching for some sort of signal wouldn't see that.

She opened her mouth to offer help, but was stopped when Jack quickly stood up next to her. He watched as Elizabeth threw another barrel on to the fire, causing a loud explosion.

Lettice gulped, knowing what was about to come, and sure enough, Jack sprang to life, his mouth gaping open in disbelief.

'No! Not good!' he shouted as he waved his arms and ran unsteadily towards where Elizabeth continued to build the fire. 'Stop! Not good! What are you doing? You've burned all the food, the shade… the rum!'

Lettice followed and held her hand above her eyes to block out the sun and the stinging smoke as she watched the interaction.

'Yes, the rum is gone!' Elizabeth responded, looking out to sea

'Why is th'rum gone?'

Elizabeth whirled round, a fresh flow of anger pouring through her causing Lettice to widen her eyes in surprise. 'One, because it is a vile drink that turns even the most respectable men into complete scoundrels. Two, that signal is over 1,000 feet high. The _entire_ Royal Navy is out looking for me. Do you really think that there is even the slightest chance that they won't see it?'

'I highly doubt it is the _entire _Royal Navy looking for you, Elizabeth,' Lettice grumbled from where she stood, still nursing her aching head.

'But why is the rum gone?' Jack asked desperately, raising his hands to cover his face.

Turning away from him, Elizabeth plopped onto the sand and began scanning the horizon. 'Just wait, Captain Sparrow. You give it one hour, maybe two, keep a weather eye open, and you will see white sails on that horizon.'

Jack quickly pulled out his pistol and cocked it, panting heavily as he clenched his fists before thinking better of it, putting it away and storming down the beach.

Knowing he'd probably need it, Lettice walked quickly to where she had hidden the bottle of rum and set off after Jack.

Lettice jogged after him as he continued to storm through the sand, raising her eyebrows in surprise at how fast he walked in rage. Just as she caught up with him, he turned around and shouted loudly in her face.

'Well it bloody is now!'

Lettice stopped abruptly, her mouth forming an 'o' shape in surprise as she stared at Jack, who looked just as startled as her.

'Oh.'

'Oh,' Lettice copied, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips from his outburst. 'You look like you could use this,' she said, holding out the bottle of amber liquid clasped in her hand.

His face lit up as he took the bottle from her, grabbing her to his chest and planting a kiss to her forehead.

'Bless you, dear Letty! I'd call you an angel,' he grinned down at her, the blush on her cheeks not going unnoticed, 'but I'm not entirely sure an angel would get a helpless scallywag drunk and distract him why her friend sets fire to the entire bloody island.'

Despite the teasing tone in his voice, Lettice still felt the guilt bubble inside of her.

'We needed to so _something. _Besides, Elizabeth and I are not _friends_,' she said quietly as Jack uncorked the bottle and raised it to his lips.

'Good, I feel she's a bad influence on you,' Jack said matter-of-factly. 'Rum?'

Lettice shook her head quickly, pushing the bottle towards him as she remembered the splitting pain her head had felt when she woke up that morning.

'Suit yourself,' Jack grinned, turning round to continue walking. It was then that he noticed the H.M.S _Dauntless_ anchored in the glistening water just off the shore along with a longboat bobbing its way towards them.

Turning round to catch Lettice's eye, he muttered grimly, 'There'll be no living with her after this.'

'Don't want to be left behind, Jack,' Lettice said, her voice just as grim, pulling him off to the direction they had just walked from.

'Oh, I don't know about that, love,' Jack muttered, swigging the bottle of rum as he allowed Lettice to pull him by the arm towards where Elizabeth stood.

'I told you they'd find us, Captain Sparrow,' Elizabeth said proudly when they arrived, her head held high. 'That is Commodore Norrington's ship coming, if I'm not mistaken.'

Jack simply grunted as he took another swig of the rum as though it were his lifeline, the helplessness pumping around his body unsettling him. 'Well done, Miss Swann. What a bloody fantastic job you did!'

Lettice shifted uncomfortably, knowing full-well that it wasn't just Elizabeth who had helped signal the oncoming ship.

'Captain Sparrow, if it weren't for Lettice and I we would starve on this island and Will would die at the hands of a _pirate_!' Elizabeth said angrily, her voice strong as she turned to look at the longboat fast approaching.

Ignoring her shouts, he staggered over to where his boots still stood in the sticks he had found the day before, mumbling to himself as he drunk deeper into his bottle.

'Bloody women.'

**I hope you liked this chapter, sorry it's short. It won't be long until the next one's up, I promise!**

**Reviews help me type faster x x **


	19. Chapter 19

Lettice watched as Elizabeth was delicately helped out of the longboat onto the deck of the _Dauntless_, the Commodore offering his arm to her.

''S your turn next, Miss,' Mullroy, the Marine that often let her sit by the dock, told her.

She nodded, gathered her dress to her knees and sat on the edge of the longboat before swinging her legs over. She stood up and looked behind her, cringing as Jack was manhandled over the rail before being launched into the iron grip of Marines.

'Elizabeth!' Governor Swann choked tearfully, pulling his daughter into a crushing hug. 'What happened to you, are you alright?'

'Yes father, I am fine. But we really must-'

'You, _pirate,' _he spat, finally letting go of his daughter to turn where Jack and Lettice stood. 'Why is it that whenever my daughter is near you, she is in some manner of undress? You can guarantee you will be meeting the noose as soon as we reach Port Royal, you – you,' the Governor stuttered, trying to find the right word to call the pirate in front of him.

'Scoundrel? Scallywag? Brigand? Charmingly handsome rogue?' Jack offered, feigning innocence as he took a step towards the Governor.

'Forgive me, Governor Swann, but there are more pressing matters than Elizabeth's state of undress. Will has been taken by pirates, taken to the Isla de Muerta,' Lettice said, marching around Jack to stand in front of the Swanns. 'We have to rescue him or it will be too late.'

'I am sorry, Miss Evans, but we will be returning to Port Royal, _not_ chasing off to this _Isla de Muerta, _not when Port Royal stands unprotected when every ship I could call on is out looking for _you_!'

'But we've got to save Will!' Elizabeth demanded, moving round to stand next to Lettice, facing her father.

'No! You're safe now,' he replied, moving round the two women to stand next to the Commodore. 'We will return to Port Royal immediately, not go gallivanting after pirates.'

'Then we condemn him to death.'

Governor Swann sighed, searching his daughter's eyes before replying calmly. 'They boy's fate is regrettable, but then so is his decision to engage in piracy.'

'To rescue me. To prevent anything from happening to me!' she replied desperately.

Lettice felt herself nod quickly in agreement, hope of saving Will seeming to slip slowly through her fingers.

'If I may be so bold as to inject my professional opinion,' Jack announced, sauntering to stand in between Lettice and Elizabeth. 'The _Pearl _was listing near to scuppers after the battle. It's very unlikely she'd be able to make good time. Think about it. The _Black Pearl. _The last _real_ pirate threat in the Caribbean, mate. How can you pass that up?'

Lettice felt herself nodding furiously, gripping onto Jack's arm subconsciously. _If anyone can get us to Will, _Lettice thought, _it's Jack. _Suddenly realising that she was gripping onto Jack, Lettice let her hand fall quickly, the guilt of what she had done bubbling inside of her again. She would have to face him properly sometime without the aid of giving him rum, but now did not seem to be the time.

His question was met with deafening silence.

'By remembering that I serve other, Mr Sparrow,' Norrington replied coldly. 'Not only myself.'

Lettice inhaled quickly, the air stuck in her throat and her heart feeling heavy. All of this, chasing Barbossa, rescuing Elizabeth, signalling the navy - it was all going to be in vain if Will was not returning by her side.

'Commodore, I beg you, please do this,' Elizabeth pleaded, chasing after Norrington as he began to climb up to the helm, Lettice following them quickly. 'For me. As a wedding gift.'

Lettice stopped suddenly in astonishment, her eyebrows raised and her jaw dropped. She watched as the Commodore spun round quickly, staring down at Elizabeth. Lettice's insides knotted, the cost of Will's life would crush his heart.

'Elizabeth? Are you accepting the Commodore's proposal?' Governor Swann asked, a shocked smile colouring his features.

'I am,' she replied softly, staring up at the Commodore.

'A wedding. I love weddings. Drinks all round!' Lettice heard Jack say somewhere behind here, causing her to laugh slightly despite the situation. 'I know. "Clap him in irons," right?' Jack added when he noticed everyone's face but Lettice's had fell, holding his hands out towards the Commodore.

'Mr Sparrow, you will accompany these fine men to the helm and provide us with a bearing to Isla de Muerta. You will then spend the rest of this voyage contemplating all possible meanings of the phrase "silent as the grave". Do I make myself clear?'

'Inescapably clear,' Jack said softly, a smirk still plastered on his face. Lettice watched as Mullroy and Murtogg marched him up the steps to his rightful place at the helm. She would talk to him another time, when he was alone and she had figured what she wanted to say.

'Commodore, I must question the wisdom of this-' Governor Swann said, walking towards where Norrington now stood at the bottom of the stairs.

'With all due respect, Governor,' Norrington cut in, pausing as the Governor raised his chin. 'Mr. Turner is a subject of the British crown and therefore under my protection.'

'James is right, Governor Swann,' Lettice said as she moved to stand next to him, gratitude filling her whole being before adding quietly, 'please let us rescue him. Please.'

The Governor looked between them for a long moment before giving a slight smile and a nod. 'Rightly so.' He looked between the Commodore and where his daughter nervously stood for a few moments, the realisation of the motives behind Norrington's actions becoming clear to him. 'Take care of her,' he said quickly before moving to walk up the stairs.

Norrington's face fell as the Governor left him, knowing quite well why he was allowed to take his daughter's hand. 'Elizabeth?' he said, his strong voice hiding his nervousness as he held out an arm for her to take.

'Excuse me,' Lettice muttered, moving round to sit on the steps, taking it that they would want to be alone.

Elizabeth moved to accept his arm and allowed him to walk her towards the rail. After a few moments, James forced himself to speak knowing that if he did not question his good luck now, he never would.

'I am concerned that your answer's, perhaps,' he began, struggling to find the words to fit his feelings, 'less than sincere.'

Elizabeth did not know what to say and so simply stared at him. 'I would not give my word lightly,' she said finally.

'Yes, I understand,' James nodded quickly but this was not the answer he was searching for, this would not satisfy his questioning heart. 'But is it so wrong that I should want it given unconditionally?'

'It is not a condition, it is a request,' she replied, raising her head but not quite meeting his eyes. 'Your answer would not change mine.'

James looked round at her, hope filling his body. Elizabeth could feel the hopeful gaze bearing into her as though it were a flame. She refused herself to look at him, knowing that if she did she would begin to cry for the lost situation she was in, she would break. She has to remain strong, to preserve the heart of the man who looked at her with such hopeful eyes, to preserve the life of the man who had stopped at nothing to save her. 'You are a… fine man, James.'

She made herself hold down the tears that were threatening to break and smiled up at him. The smile that met her was so very real that she did not know for how long she could do this.

'Well. Very well. Excellent,' James stammered before bowing to her and turning to walk to the helm where he was being called.

The sweet words, the lies, Elizabeth had told him suddenly felt acidic on her tongue. Yet not all of them had been lies. She knew he was a fine man - one of the finest.

But he was not the man she had saved when they were young, not the man she knew deserved more credit than he ever received yet never said a word, not the man who had risked himself to save her whether he could be with her or not.

Not William Turner.

xxxx

It was dark now, the _Dauntless _bobbed quietly next to the Isla de Muerta. A strange fog hung over the water. Lettice watched the eerily beautiful mist resettle each time a new wave softly rolled through it.

In the ghostly quiet of the darkness she heard footsteps somewhere behind her and turned to see Jack stood on the other side of the ship, watching the waves much like she was. She slowly walked towards him, deciding now was the time to speak to him. She walked along behind him and stood a little bit away from him, holding onto the rail for strength as she continued to watch the fog.

She fiddled with the paint on the rail for a bit, gathering her courage to finally talk to him. 'You didn't tell him about the curse,' she finally said softly, images of Norrington going into the cave unprepared filling her mind.

'I notice neither did you. For the same reason, I'd imagine.'

Lettice gave a sad smile and a nod of defeat, knowing that what he said was very true. 'He wouldn't have risked it.'

She was risking James and the whole of the redcoats with him their lives to get back Will. _How despicable_, she thought to herself. This was not like on the island signalling the navy, she knew Jack would have a chance. No, this was sending an army of innocent men to meet their end for one man. Tears filled her eyes at the hopelessness of the situation and she dabbed at them rapidly, glancing quickly to Jack.

'Could've gotten him drunk,' Jack grinned. Lettice quickly turned to face him, her eyes wide with surprise and regret, watery with tears. For a second she was sure she saw a deep frown grace his features before he gave her another grin.

'Don't get me wrong, love, I admire a person who's willing to do whatever is necessary,' he smirked.

Lettice felt herself grin despite the tears threatening to spill, her heart feeling lighter at his words. 'You're a smart man, Jack.'

Jack raised one eyebrow at her, glad that the tears that filled her eyes had remained there and not began to fall. There was nothing more daunting than a crying woman.

'But I don't entirely trust you,' she continued.

Jack walked towards her, quickly closing the distance between them and leaned in close, his breath on her face causing her legs to quiver. 'Peas in a pod, darling,' he murmured, gesturing between them. She thought his words would hurt, yet they seemed to bring her comfort.

'Knowing you cannot trust someone who cannot trust you is much more comforting than I imagined,' she murmured, giving him a small smile.

Jack grinned in agreement before raising a hand to brush her cheek. Lettice felt herself lean in to him, wanting desperately to close any sort of distance between them. His hand travelled from her cheek to the nape of her neck, knotting his hand into her hair.

He pulled her into him gently, their lips a breath away from each other before someone clearing their throat behind them caused Lettice to jump back.

Jack smirked slightly at the blush covering Lettice's face and her refusal to make eye contact with him before turning angrily around to see who had interrupted him, almost crashing into to the Commodore.

_Bloody Norrington. _

Norrington threw him a murderous look before throwing his compass to him, slightly harder than necessary.

'With me, Sparrow.'

**Woah, what is that? An update? (I'm sorry I'm really busy once I've finished this and my exams are over I'll be much quicker with the next one – if you want me to do Dead Man's Chest as well? Let me know! x x)**


	20. Chapter 20

Lettice chewed on her thumb as she watched the longboats row closer and closer towards the small cove. Her head was hurting from the war raging inside of her, her calculating mind and her throbbing heart tearing each other to pieces. Each time she would begin to walk towards one of the men to frantically warn them of the curse, a picture of a pale and lifeless Will would fill her mind, leaving her heart as cold and unbeating as the image that plagued her.

'_I have to warn them_,' her mind screamed, '_this is wrong and you know it_'. Swallowing the image of a lifeless Will, she marched towards one of the important looking redcoats, however before she could reach him a hard closed around her forearm, stopping her.

"Miss Evans, I'm afraid you'll have to retreat to the Captain's quarters – Commodore's orders," he said, already pulling her along the deck towards his destination. Lettice immediately recognised him as one of Norrington's men from Port Royal, Gillette, if she was not mistaken.

"Sir, I really must speak with you this instant! The men don't stand a chance, the pirates, they are-" she began, however was quickly cut off.

"If you are going to say '_cursed_', Miss, I can assure you, Miss Swann has made sure we have been informed of _that,_' he said as he continued to drag her towards the cabin.

Lettice's eyes widened in confusion for a moment before she realised she was quickly running out of time and pulled her arm from his grasp. "Then why aren't they _stopping_! I find it hard to believe that Commodore Norrington would knowingly row his men to certain death' she shouted, her patience quickly ebbing as panic hit her.

"Oh, I don't know, Miss Evans – maybe a sea monster is pushing the boats to shore – no, no a siren must be calling them!" he chuckled, grabbing her arm and once again pulled her across the deck before roughly pushing her inside the cabin where an angry Elizabeth stood dressed in a Naval uniform.

"You must warn them! The pirate's are cursed, they can't _die!_" Lettice screamed, clenching her hands into fists as he smiled mockingly at her.

"Commodore's orders. So sorry," he said smugly before he slammed the door roughly.

"This is Jack Sparrow's doing!" Elizabeth screamed, throwing herself against the door and trying in vain to open it.

"There's no point wasting your energy, the door will be locked and if not we have nothing to get past the guards with," Lettice said as she watched her. She scanned the room before sighing quietly. "There must be a different way out."

Elizabeth turned from the door and leaned back on it as she surveyed the room quickly, her eyes lighting as they took in the ample cloth and material in the room. "There is – the window." At Lettice's quizzical look, she continued, walking towards the bed. "I knew they wouldn't listen so I made sure there would be a longboat under it, if Commodore Norrington didn't send us here then I knew my father would."

She pulled off one of the bed sheets before ripping it in half and tying the ends together. Lettice regarded her with surprised respect before she quickly walked to the windows and yanked the curtains down, ripping them in half and tying the long strips together.

"I never properly thanked you for helping me on the island, I couldn't have done it without your help" a small voice said from behind her.

Lettice raised her eyebrows in surprise, not used to hearing the woman who was often so full of pride talk in such a soft voice to her – let alone to thank her.

"You're welcome. Although I fear we would still be sitting on a deserted beach in the middle of the ocean if it wasn't for your idea," Lettice replied as she turned her head a bit to regard the woman who continued to tie fabric together. "That was quite remarkable, you know," she said, not used to the amiable conversation between them both, before gesturing to the long rope of material in her hands, "as is this."

Elizabeth raised her head slightly to grin at her, her hands still moving quickly. "I can assure you, it didn't have much on your orders on the _Interceptor_," she said, surprised at how sincerely the compliment flowed from her lips. Suddenly, her father could be heard through the door.

"We have to hurry," Elizabeth whispered, turning towards her father's voice. Lettice nodded and tied the two, long fabric ropes together before carrying it to the window and tying it tightly to the wooden beam outside of it.

Lettice stood back as she watched Elizabeth lower herself onto the makeshift rope, shimmying down it quickly and lowering herself into the longboat. Lettice quickly followed and they began to row to the _Pearl_.

"Just how… _acquainted_ are you and Mr. Sparrow?" Elizabeth asked, her mind on their night on the small spit of land as her voice broke the quiet of the two oars pushing the water behind them.

"_Captain _Sparrow," Lettice corrected before she could stop herself with narrowed eyes. "And I do not believe it is any of your business nor is it the time," she replied as the boat softly bumped the dark hull of the _Black Pearl._

She began to pull herself up the dark wood of the _Pearl, _holding her breath as she slowly climbed past two pirates discussing the food laid out temptingly in front of them, there voices enough signal to ensure Elizabeth would be silent too. She clung on to the top of the ship as she reached the deck and cautiously checked it was clear. She pulled herself higher onto the railing before she clambered onto the deck, her dress restricting her from moving properly. She eyed Elizabeth as she joined her on the deck, jealous of the comfortable-looking breaches she was dressed in.

She turned and looked around the deck again, not quite believing they would be so lucky to be faced with a completely clear deck. Lettice gasped in fright as a skeletal monkey screeched in her face, his eyes bright against the dull-white bones. Elizabeth grimaced before glaring at the monkey, grabbing it and throwing it overboard, the clang of metal making them both cringe. Their location would not remain deserted.

They ran to the rail and watched as it slid off of the canon it had hit, both women jerking back at the sight of the two crew members mirroring them below deck. Lettice tried to control her churning stomach at the sight of their rotting bodies.

They ran down the stairs, hiding as the two watchmen ran onto the deck prepared for the intruders, their war cries echoing as they rushed past. They continued to run down the stairs, neither woman daring to breathe as their minds raced.

"Miss Elizabeth!" Gibbs called in surprise, "and Etta!"

"Mr Gibbs," Lettice grinned, nodding her head at him before rushing to the wall and pulling the rusty keys off of the hook they hung off. Her hands shook with the adrenaline fueled-blood pumping around her body however she found she easily managed to keep her hand steady as she turned the key in the cell's lock.

"I suppose lasses on a ship might not be such bad luck on this occasion," Gibbs said as they hurried up the stairs of the ship, causing Lettice to grin to herself.

She knew it was far from over, but the quickly forming plan seemed somewhat feasible as the crew's heavy footfall up the stairs merged with hers.

**Wow, it's been a while! There's been a lot of family stuff going on and my final exams start Monday so it's been a bit hectic, but seeing your reviews reminded me of how much I loved and missed doing this (and you!). It may be a bit of time between updates but I want you to know this story will be finished and I'll probably be doing the next film as well. X x**

**power ranger fan silver: It was more that she had heard of him, whether it was through Gibbs and his stories or general talk in Port Royal of a pirate so evil that Hell itself spat him back out! Sorry for the confusion. **


End file.
